Living for the Master. 



V 



Living for the Master. 



SERMONS 



BY 

LEWIS H. RE ID. 




NEW YORK: 
ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND COMPANY, 
38 West Twenty-Third Street. 
1887. 



Copyright, 1887, 
By Anson D. F. Randolph and Company. 



LC Control Number 




tmp96 



029067 



John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

I. The Touch of a Hand u 

II. The Palm and the Cedar 25 

III. Living not to Self 37 

IV. Solomon and Paul 51 

V. Rejoicing in Hope 65 

VI. Joining the Church 79 

VII. Death to Life 93 

VIII. Thoughts of God in the Night 109 

IX. Burden-Bearing 125 

X. Sitting where Others sit 139 

XI. The Ministry of Tears 153 

XII. Pebbles from the Brook 167 

XIII. The Sea 179 

XIV. Paul's Nephew 193 

XV. If Children, then Heirs 207 

XVI. The Voyage of Life 223 

XVII. Where hast Thou gleaned To-day? . . . 239 



vi CONTENTS. 



XVIII. The Foundation Sure ........ 251 

XIX. God the Rest of the Soul 267 

XX. True Prosperity 281 

XXI. God waits for Man 295 

XXII. Every One at Work 307 

XXI I I. Will-Power 321 

XXIV. Jonah Fainting 333 

XXV. The King's Business 345 



INTRODUCTION. 



The following Sermons have been selected with the 
hope that they may prove acceptable for general use. 
It is intended that nothing shall be found here that is 
not held in common by the great body of Christ's dis- 
ciples. A pastor in the course of his ministry will treat 
of a variety of subjects. He has the whole field of truth 
before him ; and some of his discourses will be exegeti- 
cal and critical, some doctrinal and ethical, and some 
homiletical and practical. All will be affected by the 
particular mould of the creed which he holds and the 
character of the field that he occupies. He must be 
his own judge as to the things new and old which he 
shall bring forth from his treasury. He may enjoy 
certain departments of study, and he may show his 
ability as a dialectician in some branches of theology ; 
but his business is to preach the gospel, to bring be- 
lievers into closer fellowship with Christ, and to rouse 
the sinful to repentance and the acceptance of Christ 
as a personal Saviour. To do this most effectually he 
must address the heart rather than the head ; he should 
convince the understanding, but he will labor in vain 
if he does not reach the feelings. The writer will be 
thankful if these Sermons shall prove useful for private 
reading, or convenient for lay reading in congregations 
temporarily without a pastor. 

L. H. R. 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



There is an old legend of the white hand. There was a king 
who gloried not in pomp and power, but in deeds of love. He 
scattered blessings everywhere. He took the food from his own 
table and gave it to the poor. Nothing in his possession was 
withheld when human need cried in his ear. He would give the 
last he had to help some suffering one. 

One day a bishop seized the royal hand and blessed it, saying, 
"May this fair hand, this bounteous hand, never grow old!" 
Soon after this war came and the king was slain in battle. His 
conqueror gave command to sever his limbs and expose them to 
view, according to the cruel custom of the time, on poles and 
stakes. It was done ; but that hand which had thus been blessed, 
and which had wrought so many beautiful deeds of love, when 
all else had perished in the bleaching sun remained unblemished, 
unwasted, wondrous white and fair, pointing still upward toward 
heaven as if raised in prayer. 

James R. Miller. 



I. 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 

And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up; 
and immediately the fever left her, and she ministered unto 
them. — Mark i. 31. 

" T T E took her by the hand, and lifted her up." It 
A A was in Capernaum, the city by the sea. 
Peter lived there, and had just been called from his 
fisher's net to become a fisher of men. Jesus also 
had His home there during the three years of His 
public ministry. It is spoken of as " His own city." 
Into that home of sickness Jesus entered, and coming 
near to the sick one took her by the hand and lifted 
her up. He did not now, as in the case of the cen- 
turion's servant and the nobleman's son, in that same 
city, speak the word from a distance. He stood by 
the side of the bed, and taking that thin, fevered, and 
sick hand in His, lifted up and gave healing. It is 
quite remarkable how often Jesus took people by the 
hand. In this same chapter we read that a leper came 
to Jesus ; " and Jesus, moved with compassion, put 
forth His hand and touched him." Touched a leper! 
So when He restored to life the daughter of Jairus, 
" He took the damsel by the hand." When He gave 
sight to the blind man, " He took him by the hand and 
led him out of the town." When a son was brought 



12 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



to Him possessed of an evil spirit, "Jesus took him by 
the hand and lifted him up." Indeed, the use of the 
hand was the universal rule. People came to ask that 
He would lay His hands on them. Mothers brought 
their children, and begged that He would touch them. 
He did more than touch them ; He took them in His 
arms and blessed them. The inquiry even was raised, 
" How are such mighty works wrought by His hands? " 
A like power He imparted to His apostles: " And by 
the hands of the apostles were many signs and won- 
ders wrought among the people." 

The hand is a study. Art finds it difficult to chisel 
or paint a well-formed hand. The hand is wonderful 
in its organization. An English nobleman, the Earl of 
Bridgewater, who died in 1829, left by will forty thou- 
sand dollars to the writers of eight treatises — five 
thousand dollars to each — " On the power, wisdom, 
and goodness of God as manifested in the creation." 
One of these treatises, by Sir Charles Bell, was on 
" The hand, its mechanism and vital endowments as 
evincing design." But if the glory of God is to be 
seen in the structure of the hand, may not a higher 
glory be revealed in the right use of the hand ? 

Character comes out in the hand. Says a popular 
writer: "There is as much diversity in the character 
of hands as in faces. Some are very white and 
shapely, and a diamond flashes prettily upon them ; 
but having said this you have said all. Others sug- 
gest honest work and plenty of it, and for such the 
sensible will ever have real respect. There are some 
hands that make you think of creatures whose blood 
is cold. A lady's hand in society often suggests 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



13 



feebleness, lack of vitality, a thing to touch deco- 
rously ; and if feeling betray you into giving a hearty 
grasp and pressure, you find that you are only causing 
pain and reducing the member to a confused jumble 
of bones and sinews. There are hands that suggest 
fancy-work, light crochet needles, and neuralgia." 

There are many uses of the hand. Art has given 
it attention. It speaks in pictures, and becomes a 
symbol in stone. A well-known picture of Washing- 
ton with hand extended seems to say, " See, here is a 
hand that never did its neighbor wrong. It signed 
the death-warrant of Andre, it struck for liberty, but 
it wrought for the good of man." A picture of the 
crucifixion represents the rabble with hands uplifted 
and fingers spread, seeming to voice the cruel senti- 
ment, " Crucify Him, crucify Him." Secret societies 
and various crafts speak through the hand. The life 
or death of the Roman gladiator hung upon the turn- 
ing of the hand, the thumb being up or down. The 
raised hand accompanies the judicial oath. Palmis- 
try pretends to find prophecies in the lines of the 
hand. With the laying on of hands kings were 
crowned, priests were consecrated, and presbyters were 
ordained. 

But the grandest use to which the hand was ever 
put, the holiest laying on of hands, is that of which I 
wish now to speak. It is such a use of the hand as 
we can all practise. It requires not wealth, nor position, 
nor gifts of intellect. The feeblest and the humblest 
are privileged here. Oh, these ministries of the hand ! 
What opportunities to heal and help, to bless and com- 
fort in a simple way! In the words, " Jesus took her 



14 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



by the hand and lifted her up," we seem to find a 
hidden meaning. I hear the Great Physician saying, 
" See, this is the way in which you are to do good to 
men, — take them by the hand." You must come near 
to men ; give them the benefit of a close personal con- 
tact. You must touch them if you would do them 
good. You recall the parable of the good Samaritan. 
The priest and the Levite passed by on the other side. 
The Samaritan came to the suffering man, stooped over 
him, bound up the wounds with his own hands, and 
then threw his strong arms around him, lifted him upon 
his own beast, and brought him to the inn. That was 
Christianity ; that is the way. To be Christ-like, you 
must come where the needy and suffering are; you 
must feel a sympathy and furnish a relief that is wholly 
your own. You cannot do good by proxy. It is well 
to send ; it is better to go. Jesus does not say, " I 
was sick, and ye inquired after Me; " but, "ye visited 
Me." He does not say, " I was in prison, and ye sent 
to Me; " but, "ye came unto Me." Words are cheap; 
deeds cost. There are persons who feel more compas- 
sion for men far away than for the suffering at their 
own door. They will weep over ideal cases, but to 
touch a degraded brother, or to help up a fallen sister, 
is too defiling for their dainty hand. The heart com- 
passionates, but the hand draws back. Says the writer 
from whom I have quoted : " Suppose a doctor should 
address his patients through a speaking-trumpet, and 
hand them his remedies on the end of a very long rod. 
Death would laugh at his efforts. People can be saved 
only as Christ saved them. We must go where they 
are, lay our hands upon them, and look sympathy and 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



is 



hope right into their eyes." Many of you will recall 
this passage in a well-known book : — 

" ( People can love you if you are black, Topsy,' said Eva ; 
1 Miss Ophelia would love you if you were good.' 

" ' No/ replied Topsy, ' she can't bear to touch me ; there 
can't nobody love me.' 

" ' Oh, Topsy, poor child ! I love you,' said Eva, laying her 
thin white hand on Topsy's shoulder, — ' I love you and want 
you to be good.' 

" ' It puts me in mind of mother ; ' said St. Clare, who was 
watching them. 1 It is true, what she told me ; if we want to 
give sight to the blind, we must be willing to do as Christ did, — 
call them to us and put our hands upon them.' " 

This is what I say : The example and voice of Jesus 
is, " Put out your hand ; raise the fallen ; be close, di- 
rect, personal in your acts of love." The world honors 
those who, walking in Jesus' steps, have shown this 
love. The names of John Howard, Elizabeth Fry, 
Florence Nightingale, and others, speak of personal 
sacrifice, and devotion to the cause of suffering human- 
ity, and will live as long as the world stands. 

It is to the credit of Christianity that it originates 
benevolent societies, founds humane and charitable 
institutions, and sustains the great missionary move- 
ments of the present age. Jesus set an example of 
sympathy for the suffering ; He enjoins love, and out 
of His gospel the charities of the world spring. Natu- 
ral religion has never founded hospitals and asylums. 
The people of pagan and half-civilized countries have 
not provided for their helpless and needy ones. On 
the contrary, they have put to death the weak, prac- 



1 6 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

tised infanticide, and left aged parents to die through 
starvation and neglect. Christianity seeks to preserve 
the life of the feeblest. It founds asylums and hos- 
pitals, establishes homes for the friendless, gives in- 
struction to the ignorant, takes poor children into the 
country on summer excursions, and in various ways 
shows kindness to the needy and the weak. But there 
must be something more than a general benevolence. 
We cannot credit to ourselves personally what is done 
by all. Of each of us, as individuals, it is demanded 
that we shall exhibit the Christ-spirit. As opportunity 
is given we must enter the home of sickness, the abode 
of poverty, the habitation of grief, and by the word of 
encouragement and the touch of the hand strengthen 
and lift up. We claim to be followers of Him who 
went about doing good ; that is to be our mission still. 
We must illustrate our faith by our works. The heart 
and the hand must keep time. To say, " Be ye warmed 
and filled," will not profit. The hand must put a gar- 
ment upon the naked and set food before the hungry, 
and then the faith is proven and a real good is done. 
Paul advocated faith in the heart ; James said, " If it 
is there, you will see it in the hands." Orthodoxy in 
the head and heart has its flower and fruitage in the 
hands. You cannot feed the poor with Bibles. Give 
them bread with the Bible, and you will do them good. 
Show them religion, and then the Book into which its 
life-roots strike and out of which it grows. It would 
not be strange if it were your mission literally to take 
a fallen man or woman by the hand. What a power 
did John B. Gough, with his redeemed and useful life, 
become, all because of a kind word and an uplifting 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



17 



hand ! And even a fallen woman Jesus did not despise, 
but said, " Go and sin no more." With the woman 
also at the well He held friendly conversation; re- 
minded her of her sinful life, and while drinking from 
her earthen pitcher gave to her in exchange " living 
water." Doubtless there are many men and women, 
who might be reclaimed from a life of sin if they could 
but feel the gush of a warm heart and the grasp of a 
helping hand. Says one : — 

" I went to the orchard, where men and boys were pick- 
ing apples. There hung the fruit in red and tempting beauty 
on branches very difficult to reach. Here was a twenty-foot 
ladder set up, and on it a man was stretching out, right and 
left, almost bursting his jacket, to pluck the coy and unwilling 
fruit. There, again, was another ladder forty feet long, and 
on it stood another man, at a giddy height, reaching all 
around him for the apples. A strong wind the day before 
had shaken off one half the fruit, and there it lay plump and 
perfect on the ground. 'Look here,' said I, 'why not put 
in these apples? They are perfectly sound.' 'No,' said 
the farmer, ' not one of those will answer for winter use. 
They will show a bruise in thirty days and will begin to 
perish. Don't put an apple into the barrel which is not 
hand-picked. Those are the only ones you can rely upon.' 

" My blunder over the apples was the blunder of many a 
gatherer of spiritual fruit. It is a popular fallacy of good 
people that soul-saving can be done in some wholesale way. 
Some rushing mighty wind is looked for to shake down the 
fruit which we are sent to hand-pick with pains and care. All 
Scripture, as all experience, exposes the mistake. The way 
of the Spirit of God is through one heart to another heart ; 
through one eye into another eye; through one inviting 
voice into the ear of a friend who listens apart. Hand- 

2 



i3 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



picking is the rule of saving the fruit of the kingdom. Great 
revivals are merely wide-spread efforts of pious people to 
bring others to Christ. Given the longing, the asking, and the 
doing, and there is the revival. The fruit for winter use 
must all be hand-picked. The fruit of the kingdom, if you 
could but see, would all bear traces of some loving touch." 

I desire, my friends, to impress upon you the 
mighty power of a loving hand. Do not leave it to 
the pastor or to the few to build up the church. 
Draw by the magnetism of your own warm heart and 
loving hand. Let no one call you cold, selfish, and 
unfeeling. Smile, speak to children, put out a warm, 
loving, helping hand to all. Ah, in how many cases, 
if men, Christ-like, would take the prostrate by the 
hand, — those down in heart, down in circumstances, 
down in fortune, and down in character, — might they 
lift up, inspirit, and make whole ! That hand was 
given you not simply for personal ends, but as im- 
posing an obligation to grasp the fevered hand of 
some feebler brother, to bear the compliments of a 
loving heart, to feed, clothe, cheer, welcome, and lead 
to Him who is the Saviour of sinners and the Light of 
the world. 

We are not done with the text yet. Read it again : 
" And He came." That is, Jesus. It is Jesus whom 
the sick one needs. Fevered soul, it is Jesus whom 
you need. Great Physician ! He alone can give you 
health ! You show the symptoms of a dreadful 
malady; you feel the pain and weariness of this 
universal complaint; you are like one who tosses 
from side to side by turns ; you change the place, but 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



19 



keep the pain ; you burn with fever, and are withered 
like a leaf. Why do you not seek the aid of this 
Great Physician? He is near. He came to Peter's 
home ; He will come to your heart. He is even here 
to-day; will you not tell Him your difficulty? will 
you not take the healing that He brings ? As certainly 
as He stood by the bedside of the sick of old and 
extended a healing, helping hand, so certainly does 
He offer to you that same hand to-day. Place your 
hand in His ; let Him lift you up. 

Again, note: How much did Peter's wife's mother 
do toward her own restoration? Not anything. She 
simply put her thin withered hand in the hand that 
was extended to her. This is all you have to do. 
We do not make ourselves well. We simply accept, 
receive, say yes, are willing to be healed, and Christ 
does it all. There are no wearisome processes to be 
gone through with. It is not, Do so and so, and you 
will get well. They err who tell us that coming to 
Jesus is a gradual growth into a better life ; that refor- 
mation can be effected only by long protracted strug- 
gles, and after months and years of watchfulness and 
toil. Improvement may go on, but the regenerating 
act is instantaneous, and is wholly Christ's. Note 
those words, "And immediately the fever left her." 
She was not put under treatment ; she had nothing to 
do. And you have nothing to do but simply to sub- 
mit; to let Christ do His work. Give Him your 
hand and say, Great Physician, heal. The new life 
is simple. Christ is the author of it, and He gives it 
to those who earnestly desire it. Will you receive 
it now? 



20 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Note further ; the sick one did not sit down to enjoy 
her newly restored health. " The fever left her, and 
she ministered unto them." She entered immediately 
into the service of the Healer. She proved the genu- 
ineness of the miracle by showing that she was well, 
by the exertion of the strength imparted. But in 
addition to this she used her strength in behalf of 
those who had brought her this blessing. " She min- 
istered unto them." See the reciprocal power of a 
good deed. You cannot lift up another, but that 
that other shall in some way serve you. It may be 
your turn to fall ; you may need a helping hand ; and 
then the men whom you have blessed may impart a 
blessing to you. Or if not that, the kindness done 
shall open to you a mine of joy. The thankfulness 
of the one befriended, the improved condition in 
which you have placed him, the hope and courage 
that you have awakened, and the strength that you 
have inspired, shall be an ample recompense, — a 
reciprocated ministry that shall make you feel that 
every word of kindness and every act of love pays. 

And then this new life is a consecrated life ; it 
ministers to Christ. It is true of all whom Christ 
makes whole that immediately they rise and minister 
to Him. He laid His hands on Saul of Tarsus, on 
John Bunyan, on John Newton, — men in whom the 
malady of sin was violently raging, — and instantly 
they became His devoted followers. The first cry of 
restored life was, " Lord, what wilt Thou have me to 
do?" All are expected to rise from the sick-bed of 
sin to enter most heartily into the service of Christ. 
You who claim to be restored, are you ministering to 



THE TOUCH OF A HAND. 



21 



Him? Do you take this imparted health and strength 
and soundness to serve yourself with? If not re- 
stored, call on the Physician now; obtain the heal- 
ing, and begin, from this hour, to be an earnest, 
wide-awake, warm-hearted, hand-helping Christian. 
That hand must not be idle; what it finds to do, it 
must do; its time of service is now. 

And cannot some of us act the part of Peter, tell- 
ing Jesus of the sick, and escorting Him to the home 
where His mercy may be shown? It is our part to 
bring together the Healer and the people to be 
helped. Here are the sick, and yonder is Jesus by 
the sea. Let us bring Him up the Capernaum 
streets, and halting at Peter's door say, " Here, Great 
Physician, enter, approach the bed of sickness, show 
Thy power, and mercifully heal." Let us try to bring 
together the sick and the Physician, our friends and 
Christ. Let us urge them to seek and accept this 
Saviour; and let us with unwonted importunity pray 
Him to come and visit our sick, and raise them up 
from the gates of death. My friends, if souls perish 
around us, it will largely be because we do not per- 
sonally speak to the Physician for them; and be- 
cause we do not take them by the hand and commend 
them to Him who is able and ready to heal. 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 



Other trees when old leave off bearing ; not so God's trees. 
The last days of the saints are sometimes their best days, and 
their last work their best. 

Matthew Henry. 



II. 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 

The righteous shall flourish like the palm-tree : he shall grow 
like a cedar in Lebanoii. — Psalm xcii. 12. 

HERE are two trees mentioned that were indige- 
nous to the land of Palestine. Both, from their 
structure, characteristics, and uses, were regarded as 
symbolical trees. The palm-tree with its tall slender 
trunk, having no branches save a tuft of leaves at the 
top, is noted for the variety of uses to which it is put. 
The fruit of this tree is often eaten in the form of 
dates. The leaves are made into palm-leaf fans, and 
the juice, whether fermented or not, is used at the 
East as a pleasant beverage. A writer says : — 

u The date is a favorite fruit with many, few of whom have 
any knowledge of the extensive date forests which in the Bar- 
bary States are sometimes miles in length. When thus grown 
the palms are exceedingly beautiful. Their towering crests, 
touching each other, form an immense natural temple, in which 
brilliantly plumaged birds sing their morning and evening 
hymns. The ground below is carpeted with exquisite wild 
flowers of every tint and color. 

" The tree when in its prime bears about two hundred 
and fifty pounds of dates ; but its value is not by any means 



26 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



confined to the fruit. A pleasant beverage called palm wine 
is djawn from the trunk by tapping, as they do sugar-maples 
in New England. The trunks of the old trees furnish a hard 
and durable wood for building purposes and making furniture. 
The leaves make baskets, hats, and various household utensils, 
and the fibres of the leaves are stripped out and made into 
twines and ropes. Even the stones are of use, — the fresh for 
planting, and the dried are turned to account in Egypt for cat- 
tle feed, in China for the manufacture of Indian ink, and in 
Spain for making the tooth-powder sold as ivory black." 

The finest palm-trees grew about Jericho, and hence 
it was sometimes spoken of as the " City of palm-trees." 
The presence of this tree was an indication of water even 
in the midst of the most desert country. The palm-tree 
is first mentioned in Exodus xv. 27. The Israelites, we 
are told, encamped at " Elim, where were twelve wells 
of water and threescore and ten palm-trees." The fruit 
of the trees, besides the shade and the wells, may have 
had some influence in leading them to encamp there. 
It is said that whole tribes of Arabs and Africans find 
their chief sustenance in the date. The leaves of the 
palm are from four to six and eight feet in length, 
ranged in a bunch round the top of the stem. They 
are used at the East not only for fans, but for covering 
the roofs or sides of houses, for fences, framework, 
mats, and baskets. Palm-leaves were used in celebrat- 
ing the feast of Pentecost. The command is : " And 
ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly 
trees, branches of palm-trees," etc. So also when 
Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem the peo- 
ple " took branches of palm-trees and went forth to 
meet Him." For this reason the last Sunday in Lent is 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 



2 7 



known in some churches as Palm-Sunday. In some 
parts of Europe, particularly in Italy, France, and 
Spain, the palm is cultivated, and its leaves sold for 
Jewish and Christian festivals. As the palm abounded 
in Judea, and it was there where the Greeks and Romans 
in proceeding south would first meet with it, it was 
natural that the Roman conquerors of that country 
should place on their coins and medals the image of a 
woman sitting under a palm-tree weeping, with the in- 
scription " Judea Capta." As a symbol of victory the 
palm is mentioned as used by the glorified above. They 
" stood before the throne with white robes, and palms 
in their hands." In the Song of Solomon it is said of 
the Church, " Thy stature is like to a palm-tree." 

The other tree mentioned in the text, — the cedar, — 
is also much celebrated, and is frequently referred to 
in the Scriptures. It is described as shooting out its 
branches at a distance of ten or twelve feet from the 
ground. Its leaves are always green, and it distils a 
kind of gum, to which different effects are attributed. 
The wood of this tree is incorruptible, beautiful, and 
solid. It was used not only in the form of beams and 
planks for the covering of edifices and for ceilings to 
apartments, but was placed in the body of the walls 
themselves and so disposed that there were three rows 
of stone and one of cedar-wood. Of the Temple of 
Solomon it is written: "And he built the inner court 
with three rows of hewed stone and a row of cedar 
beams." The prophet Ezekiel is adduced as giving 
the most magnificent and at the same time most 
graphic description of this tree : " Behold the As- 
syrian was a cedar in Lebanon with fair branches, and 



28 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



with a shadowing shroud, and of a high stature ; and 
his top was among the thick boughs. . . . Therefore his 
height was exalted above all the trees of the field, and 
his boughs were multiplied, and his branches became 
long because of the multitude of waters, when he shot 
forth. All the fowls of heaven made their nests in his 
boughs." A remarkable characteristic of the cedar is 
the great age which it attains. The cedars of Cali- 
fornia are supposed to have been standing before the 
Christian era. One, a section of which was brought 
to the Atlantic coast some years ago from California, 
was judged to have stood three thousand years. There 
are cedars standing on Mount Lebanon now which are 
supposed to have existed in Old Testament times. 

Thus viewing these trees, how apt and beautiful 
does the language of the text appear, — "The right- 
eous shall flourish like the palm-tree : he shall grow 
like a cedar in Lebanon " ! 

I. We have here a symbol of moral beauty. As 
the eye rests with delight on a large and well-formed 
tree, its extended branches, its variegated leaves, or 
its countless blossoms, so the life of a truly godly man 
appeals to our spiritual apprehension, fixes attention, 
and awakens feelings of approval and joy. Much is 
said in the Scriptures of the beauty of holiness. It is 
in the " beauty of holiness " that we are to worship 
the Lord. It is the prayer of the righteous, " Let 
the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." It is 
also written, " Thy people shall be willing " — that is, 
free-will offerings — " in the day of Thy power, in the 
beauties of holiness." 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 



29 



The life of the good is beautiful according as it is 
God-like. Of natural beauty the world is full, — beau- 
tiful landscapes, beautiful sunsets, beautiful forms and 
faces ; but beautiful lives are far too few. Deeds, it is 
true, are sometimes performed which judged by man's 
standard seem great or excellent; but to Him who 
knows the heart they possess no moral beauty. They 
may have sentiment, moving power, and beauty, but 
not moral beauty. Now, a life that is really beautiful, 
is beautiful all through. It starts right; inwardly it 
is excellent: the motives, principles, purposes, desires, 
wishes, are founded in truth. Hence outwardly it is 
an unselfish, disinterested, consecrated life; it recog- 
nizes the truth that " no man liveth to himself," and 
in promoting the happiness of others, and living to 
make the world better, finds its highest joy. Take the 
lives of the apostles Paul and John, the philanthro- 
pist Howard, the devoted Lady Huntington, or that 
noble woman Mrs. Fry, and where do you find lives 
more truly beautiful? Nor is the beauty of holiness 
seen only in conspicuous cases. The savor of a 
godly life, the sweet spirit of many a pious wife and 
mother, or the consistent example of a godly father 
is doing much to recommend religion and to impress 
others with its attractiveness and power. Many, it is 
true, come short; and yet where true piety is pos- 
sessed, it is something beautiful to behold. 

" Not Lebanon, with all its trees, 
Yields such a comely sight as these." 

2. Strength is suggested here. God is Almighty, 
and He. imparts strength to His people. He makes 



30 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



them strong in love, in faith, in piety; He enables 
them to maintain a successful fight with Satan, to over- 
come temptations, to endure hardships, to bear bur- 
dens, and even to smile at death. How many moral 
heroes have there been in the world ! Men like those 
mentioned in the nth of Hebrews, " who through 
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, ob- 
tained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched 
the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, 
out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in 
fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens." Take 
the history of martyrs and confessors, witness the trials 
of the Waldenses, the Huguenots, or the Covenant- 
ers, and see what a rising there was above fear of 
death; what adherence to truth and principle; what 
rectitude of purpose above poverty and the wilderness, 
or even fagot and flame ! How noble does every 
instance of self-sacrifice appear, and what strength of 
principle is sometimes exhibited in munificent chari- 
ties, a life consecrated to the work of missions, or 
painful and laborious efforts made to elevate and save 
mankind ! The martyr spirit still lives, occasional 
illustrations of it filling us with wonder and joy. Nor 
does it appear how much of this spirit resides in the 
Church not yet developed, or how much moral heroism 
there is among those occupying hidden positions, on 
a limited and unseen scale. Unwritten history is more 
interesting than written, and battles have been fought 
unchronicled by any pen, which in their relations to 
Christ's kingdom and the honor reflected by them 
were more important than some which fill a large 
place in history. All around us, possibly among 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 3 1 

ourselves, there are efforts at self-subjugation, attempts 
to do good, and sacrifices of interest, property, and 
time, which make the subjects of these conflicts, la- 
bors, and charities truly great. Even in the abodes of 
poverty you may find those whom God makes strong, 
and who by their prayers, if in no other way, are send- 
ing out an influence upon the age; advancing the 
Church's interests and bestowing blessings upon man- 
kind. We cannot always judge from the appearance 
of a Christian what his strength is. Physically he may 
seem small; socially he may be overlooked; but 
morally he may stand like a cedar in Lebanon ! 

3. Another characteristic that is brought to view is 
fruitfulness. 

" The plants of grace shall ever live ; 
Nature decays, but grace must thrive ; 
Time, that does all things else impair, 
Still makes them flourish strong and fair." 

" Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much 
fruit." Of course it is to be expected that Christians 
will bear fruit. This is the evidence of their life ; this 
shows the character of the tree. " By their fruits ye 
shall know them." It is written, " He shall be like a 
tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth 
his fruit in his season ; his leaf also shall not wither ; 
and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." " He shall be 
as a tree planted by the waters and that spreadeth out 
her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat 
cometh, but her leaf shall be green ; and shall not be 
careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from 
yielding fruit." Immediately after the text it is added : 
" Those that be planted in the house of the Lord shall 



32 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



flourish in the courts of our God. They shall still 
bring forth fruit in old age; they shall be fat and 
flourishing." 

What are the fruits which the righteous bring forth? 
Fruits of piety and grace, of a devout and holy life, 
prayer and a godly conversation, good works, a con- 
sistent example, strict integrity, honesty, and regard 
for truth, interest in the souls of men, charitable 
gifts, personal labors to bring others to Christ, — in 
short, anything which evidences or promotes religion 
and glorifies God. " The fruit of the Spirit is love, 
joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
meekness, temperance." "The fruit of the Spirit is in 
all goodness and righteousness and truth." 

4. Growth is spoken of : " The righteous shall flour- 
ish like the palm-tree ; he shall grow like a cedar in 
Lebanon." Growth is the law both of the vegetable 
and animal kingdom: every organized living thing 
grows. In like manner the righteous grow: piety is 
progressive ; it is like a grain of mustard seed, — small 
at first, but it becomes a tree. Hence we read, " Grow 
in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord ; " " Fruitful 
in every good work and increasing in the knowledge 
of God ; " " Because your faith groweth exceedingly." 
We know the Scriptures teach that piety grows, and 
insist on progress as an evidence of good estate. 
Sanctification is a growing work, " whereby we are 
enabled more and more to die unto sin and to live 
unto righteousness." The righteous are conscious of 
growth, and their growth appears to others. As you 
can measure the progressive girth and height of a 
tree, so can you see maturity and advancement in 



THE PALM AND THE CEDAR. 



33 



holiness in a truly righteous man. Sometimes in 
revivals or under personal afflictions you will see rapid 
development, as when fruit ripens under genial showers 
or a benignant sun. It is expected that every Chris- 
tian will be a flourishing, growing Christian. The text 
points to two of the most vigorous and stately trees, 
and affirms, as the normal law, that the righteous shall 
flourish and grow like these trees. No dwarfed and 
stunted appearance, therefore ; no cessation of growth 
can undo the law, but only make it questionable whether 
those who do not grow are of the number of the right- 
eous ; claiming to be a tree is nothing, if it does not 
grow. 

5. Finally, durability and continuance are symbolized 
here. The palm is a long-lived evergreen, and the 
cedar is a tree that not only lives long, but its wood 
is comparatively imperishable. To these trees the 
Psalmist likens the righteous. But to what does he 
liken the wicked? To grass that is soon withered. In 
the seventh verse he says, " When the wicked spring 
as the grass, and when all the workers of iniquity do 
flourish, it is that they shall be destroyed forever." 
The law of progress and continuance pertains to one 
class ; that of decay and death to the other. True 
piety is substantial and permanent: it is an " immor- 
telle ; " it is "everlasting." False piety and irreligion 
are short-lived, ephemeral; they wither in a day. 
There is as much difference between true religion and 
false religion — a genuine hope and a spurious hope — 
as between a stately cedar that has been rocked by 
the storms of a thousand years and a feeble plant that 
shrivels at the first morning ray. 

3 



34 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Now let us ask ourselves what is the character of our 
piety? We have seen the Christian under five aspects, 
symbolized by the trees, — Beauty, Strength, Fruitful- 
ness, Growth, Durability. Does the world see in us 
the beauty of holiness? Are we strong in the Lord? 
Is fruitfulness a characteristic of our piety? Do we 
grow? Is our piety lasting? These are questions on 
which interests precious as eternity are pending. 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



The growing good of the world is partly dependent on un- 
historic acts ; and that things are not so ill with you and me as 
they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived 
faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited graves. 

George Eliot. 



III. 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 

For none of us liveth to himself and no man dieth to 
himself. — Rom. xiv. 7. 

IT is a question that every one may suitably ask 
himself, "What was I made for?" In an old 
work written two hundred years ago on the shorter 
Catechism, under the answer to the question, " What 
is the chief end of man?" "Man's chief end is to 
glorify God and to enjoy Him forever," the writer 
remarks : " We conclude that there are but a very 
few that know what they were made for; that either 
they understand not or do not consider what errand 
God sent them into the world about." Now, do we 
know what we were made for ; what errand God sent 
us into the world about? Are we here, as it is some- 
times phrased, to have a good time? Ask yourself, 
"Why am I here? What is the business of life? 
What is my mission? Am I here to pass a thought- 
less, giddy life, or to accomplish a glorious destiny? 
Is it my chief end to aggrandize myself, or to make 
the world better? Am I to be like the sponge that 
drinks in, or the horse-leech that cries 'Give, give,' 
and that with forked tongue feeds on the life of oth- 
ers, or shall my life be like the generous distilling 



33 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



cloud, — the outpouring, self-emptying, and never- 
failing fountain ? " It is evident from the spirit and 
manner of many persons that they do not know what 
they were made for; they do not comprehend the 
lofty significance, the grand purpose of living. 

It is a truth that we need to be impressed with, 
that " none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth 
to himself. For whether we live, we live unto the 
Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : 
whether we live, therefore, or die, we are the Lord's." 
And this is only another way of saying that we are not 
to live a selfish life ; we are to fulfil our mission and 
find our highest joy in serving God and doing good. 

i. This great truth Nature teaches us. Especially 
in the summer, from waving fields and waiting har- 
vests, do voices come to us. " Learn from me," says 
the physical world, " not to be selfish ; let a disinter- 
ested spirit govern you; recognize and fulfil as I do 
the object of your creation." The material universe in 
all its parts fails not of meeting the original purpose 
and obeying the commands of God. The look of 
approbation that He gave to each object at the first 
has never been withdrawn. Only man swerves from 
His high purpose and revolts into abuse. The ground 
which was told to bring forth its products obeys the 
edict still. The sun and moon which were appointed 
for seasons have not wearied in the march of ages. 
I Kind, too, as well as constant are these ministries of 
5 Nature. The sun, as he lifts himself from his morning 
couch, seems to say, " See, I shine to bless. I have 
heard the plaint of the sick man crying for the morn- 
ing, and I have come to give him rest. I have seen 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



39 



the stir of industry, and I send down my beams to 
lighten and recompense each scene of toil. I have 
looked out on field, forest, and garden, and I see that 
tree and shrub, plant and flower wait my light, and 
I give it to them to wake their energies, paint their 
colors, and build their forms. But for me, a winter of 
darkness and death would universally reign." The 
stream, as it ripples over its rocky bed, seems to sing 
a song of gladness : " I give refreshment to the thirsty 
earth; the springs contribute to my fulness, but are 
fed by me in turn ; the clouds acknowledge my worth, 
and the ocean pays me reverence. My way is one of 
life and joy; to me the flowers owe their beauty and 
the meadows their bloom." The bird, singing in the 
branches or jubilant in its prison cage, seems to 
enjoy its song, not because it hears that song, but 
because it wants us to hear it. So everything fulfils 
a purpose. No part of the material world receives 
without recompensing again. The trees of the forest, 
that receive their nourishment from the soil in which 
they stand, shed their decayed leaves back to enrich 
that soil again. Even the flowers, and all the beau- 
tiful forms and phases that Nature wears, — the cloud- 
pictures, the gorgeous sunsets, the glorious landscapes, 
the beauties of river, lake, and ravine, the grand old 
mountains lifting the heart to Nature's God, — are so 
many instances of disinterested benevolence. Now, if 
it be true that everything that we see exists for some 
purpose,, and that not a selfish one; if, as the poet 
says, — 

" There 's nought so vile that on the earth doth live, 
But to the earth some special good doth give," 



40 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



what a hint and admonition have we here as to the 
end and object of our living ! How true that to be in 
harmony with Nature, to make no break, and to throw 
no discord into this universal song, we must carry our 
part and render our recompense of usefulness and 
good to men ! 

2. Again, we have notable examples of disinterested 
living. There have been men and women who seem 
to have understood the object for which they were 
sent into this world, and w T hose lives have been a per- 
petual benediction. In their spirit of self-sacrifice, 
their devotion to others, the benevolent, philanthropic, 
and Christian movements they have started or in 
which they have toiled, they seem to have inscribed 
on their banner, and to have borne aloft the senti- 
ment, " Not to myself, but for God and man." Many 
have sacrificed home and country, and gone with 
burning zeal to tell degraded heathen of God's grace 
in Christ. Some have breathed in pestilential vapors, 
and incurred every kind of hardship and danger, to 
carry the gospel to the outcast, the prisoner, and 
those deeply sunken under the power and curse of sin. 
Some have even become martyrs to their zeal, their 
intense devotedness eating up their life. Such a per- 
son was John Howard, — the man who began his benev- 
olent career by building cottages for the peasantry and 
establishing free schools in the town where he lived ; 
then exerting himself to reform abuses in the manage- 
ment of jails and prisons, seeking to promote the 
comfort of the sick in hospitals, devising means to 
prevent the communication of the plague and other 
pestilential diseases ; and at length' in a Russian town, 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



41 



having travelled over the whole of Europe in his career 
of mercy, dying from an infectious distemper commu- 
nicated to him by a patient whom he visited. William 
Wilberforce is another to whom the term " philan- 
thropist " is applied, and who takes high rank among 
the benefactors of mankind for his great exertions to 
secure the abolition of the slave trade, and to improve 
the condition of the slaves in the West Indies. An- 
other, whose life was much in the same line, but was 
more spiritual in its object, was Mrs. Elizabeth Fry, 
who before her marriage established a school for 
eighty poor children in her father's house, and after 
her marriage, by visiting the most degraded criminals 
in the Newgate prison, reading to them from the 
Scriptures, and exerting herself in various ways for 
their good, succeeded, after several years, in changing 
that prison " from a receptacle of vice into an asylum 
of repentance and a school of industry." Not many 
years ago all hearts were touched, and great admira- 
tion was elicited, by the heroic devotion of that young 
woman, Florence Nightingale, who went forth to 
minister with gentle hands, and to relieve the wants 
and the woes of the sick and suffering soldiery in the 
war of the Crimea. So precious did her name be- 
come, that parents gave it to their infant daughters ; 
and so beautiful was her example that it inspired 
many soon after, when a time of war and distress came 
to ourselves, to a like devotion. These are notable 
examples outside of the Scriptures. And yet in that 
sacred Book the best of all examples are furnished us. 
Who could have lived less to himself than did Paul? 
It is his own words that compose the text of our 



42 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



present theme. But pre-eminent is the Lord Jesus 
Christ, who humbled Himself to the death of the 
cross for the salvation of a guilty and lost world. 

u What he endured, no tongue can tell, 
To save our souls from death and hell." 

But there are examples of disinterested benevolence 
which do not rise to the observation of history. There 
are moral heroes and true heroines whose life is cir- 
cumscribed and yet their deeds are great, and whose 
acts of devotion shall not lose their reward. Some- 
times in families where sickness has come there are 
children or others who wait on the sick with uncom- 
plaining devotion. Self is forgotten in the distress the 
loved one feels, and so through months and sometimes 
years of the most untiring attention, without one word 
of complaint, their own cheek perhaps growing pale 
and eye sunken, these friends of humanity, daughters 
of affection and sisters of charity, wait and toil, asking 
nothing in return but the satisfaction of their own lov- 
ing hearts. How many such there are in these quiet 
nooks of home, will appear when the books are opened 
and all things are revealed. 

3. Note further, a disinterested life is the only 
satisfy big life. A man knows that he ought not to 
live to himself, and in living to himself he finds but 
little joy. The most miserable man is the selfish man, 
and the happiest man is he who is most empty of 
self. While a man lives to himself, conscience will 
not let him be happy. Nor in selfish ends is true 
happiness to be found ; while he who lives to him- 
self has few friends. A man to be happy must know 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



43 



that he is living to some purpose; he must find a 
satisfaction in the consciousness that he is making 
his mark upon the world ; he must rejoice in the 
smiles that he awakens around him ; he must find his 
highest joy in the good that he shall do. A few years 
ago there was a poor boy in the city of New York 
who supported himself and widowed mother by sell- 
ing petty wares from door to door. He was thin 
and pale, and suffered much from a disease affecting 
one of his limbs; but his heart was strong and his 
spirit light. In his round of sales he came to the 
Theological Seminary. The students became in- 
terested in him, gave him instruction, and fired him 
with the hope of obtaining a classical education. 
Suffering still from his malady, he submitted to an 
operation, but died from the effect of it, at the age 
of seventeen, having previously prepared a sketch 
of his life which was published. His funeral was 
largely attended; distinguished men were there; the 
great and the good wept at his grave. The secret of 
the impression he made was his high aims and un- 
selfish spirit. In his writing-desk among his papers 
were found these lines which he had copied and 
adopted as the motto of his life : — 

" To live for those who love me, 
Whose hearts are kind and true, 
For the heaven that smiles above me 
And the good that I can do." 

Dear young man — that is it! What grander 
sentiment can one adopt in starting out on his ca- 
reer in life? To live for others, to live for God, to 
live to be useful is the only end worth living for. 



44 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Nor, as I said, do we find real happiness in any but 
those who have this before them as their end. Con- 
trast the life of a man who lives to himself with that 
of a genuine, disinterested Christian, and you shall 
find that while one is full of misery the other is full 
of joy. Lord Byron was a man of genius and noble 
birth ; he had wealth and fame ; but he lived to him- 
self; he was sensual, and he used his pen to corrupt 
others ; he was a misanthrope, and so, as we might 
expect, he was full of pain. It is no marvel that he 
wrote that he had not seen eleven happy days in all 
his life, and he doubted if the remnant that was left 
would round up the full dozen. Contrast with this 
statement the words of another who lived to do good, 
losing sight of himself in preaching the gospel, — 
the Rev. Samuel Pierce. " It has pleased God," wrote 
he, " to teach me more than ever that Himself is the 
fountain of happiness ; that likeness to Him, friend- 
ship for Him, and communion with Him form the 
basis of all true enjoyment. The very disposition 
which — blessed be my dear Redeemer ! — He has given 
me, to be anything, do anything, or endure anything, so 
that His name might be glorified, — I say the disposition 
itself is heaven begun below." It is no marvel that 
God should enjoin it on us to live for others. Liv- 
ing for others we promote our own good ; living for 
others we increase our own joy. 

4. Finally, a disinterested life culminates in the bliss 
of heaven. The man who lives for others is not only 
the most happy man here in this world, but he receives 
as the proper recompense eternal life, or endless happi- 
ness in heaven. If we live unto ourselves, we cannot 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



45 



die unto ourselves. Living to Christ, dying we shall 
go to be with Christ. Now shall we understand, if 
never before, the meaning of that saying : " He that 
findeth his life shall lose it ; and he that loseth his life 
for my sake shall find it." Now shall it be seen that 
the humblest act performed to one of Christ's little 
ones shall be reckoned as performed to Himself, and 
shall receive its reward. " He that receiveth a prophet 
in the name of a prophet, shall receive a prophet's re- 
ward; and he that receiveth a righteous man in the 
name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous 
man's reward. And whosoever shall give to drink 
unto one of these little ones a cup of cold water only in 
the name of a disciple, verily I say unto you, he shall 
in no wise lose his reward." It would seem as if the 
most disinterested life is that which Christ most highly 
honors. As His own life was a model in this respect, 
so it is expected His people will pattern after Him ; as 
they bear His name, they are to walk in His steps. 
Hence so much is said with regard to an outward, 
demonstrative faith. One of the characteristics of 
pure and undefiled religion is this, — " To visit the 
fatherless and widows in their affliction." In the de- 
scription of the judgment the Saviour makes the inves- 
tigation, and awards relate not so much to a sound 
orthodoxy as to the practical illustration of this in feed- 
ing the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick, 
and caring generally for those in need. Thus it would 
seem that lives which correspond most nearly to such 
as we have mentioned, most empty of self and fullest of 
practical benevolence, come nearest to the true stand- 
ard and receive the largest reward. It is encouraging, 



4 6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



therefore, to know that M little deeds of kindness " and 
" little words of love " are so intimately related to 
the bliss of heaven. The petty charity that has re- 
lieved some aching heart, the word of affectionate 
interest spoken to some crying child, the look of love 
that has beamed on some creature of woe or want, 
easily given, shall become important factors in the 
grand product of everlasting joy. Oh, how blessed it 
seems, in the light of eternity, to live not unto our- 
selves ! Nor is any one excluded from sharing in this 
joy. The largest possessions not consecrated are like 
bags of gold which a drowning man girds to his waist, 
that sink him the more. Talents not improved, genius 
that exerts itself to corrupt and destroy, property that 
is spent in self-adornment and luxurious living, honor, 
station, and power that add nothing to Christ's glory 
and the common good, — what are they but possessions 
it were better to be without, since they not only in- 
crease responsibility but aggravate one's woe? But 
to all of us self-abnegation is possible. Whatever our 
position, talents, or means, we can do good ; we can 
be useful; we can make the world better by our liv- 
ing in it; and doing this, great shall be our reward in 
heaven. 

Let me urge, then, upon one and all the practical 
illustration of that grand sentiment, " For none of us 
liveth to himself." Divest yourself of all selfishness ; 
and by the teachings of Nature, the examples of the 
great and good, the satisfactions of the present, and 
the hopes and rewards of heaven, live to honor God 
and bless mankind. Let your life be like a living 
stream that imparts refreshing and carries gladness 



LIVING NOT TO SELF. 



47 



where it flows. Let your words and acts be like coals 
that shall warm into activity sluggish natures and kin- 
dle courage and hope in disconsolate hearts. Live to 
be remembered. Live so that when dead you shall in 
thought, influence, and example yet speak. Live to 
be missed ; live to be mourned. Live in a way that 
to you the termination of life shall be but a glorious 
coronation day. There is a Persian apothegm : — 

" On parent knees, a naked new-born child, 
Weeping thou sat'st while all around thee smiled ; 
So live, that, sinking in thy last long sleep, 
Calm thou mayst smile while all around thee weep. 

It is enough if there can be put upon our tombstone, 
" He did what he could," and if we can stand where 
we shall hear the Master say, " Well done ! " 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 



A 



Books, essays, sermons, etc., are multiplied to define the 
means of success in life. They are mostly bad books, bad essays, 
and bad sermons ; because they proceed on the error that great- 
ness of some sort, distinction, influence, riches, or office is implied 
in success. It is not. The good man or woman who in the com- 
mon walks of life earns an honest living by useful work, is one of 
the pillars of the commonwealth, a defence or ornament to the 
State. Millions of such people make a great State. These are 
the salt of the earth, the saviors of society, the friends of God. 

Samuel Iren^eus Prime. 



IV. 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 

Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all is vanity. — 
Eccl. xii. 8. 

For I am now ready to be offered, and the tiine of my depa?'t- 
ure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my 
course, I have kept the faith : Henceforth there is laid up for me 
a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous fudge, 
shall give me at that day : and not to me only, but unto all them 
also that love His appearing. — 2 Tim. iv. 6-8. 

IT is said that dying men always speak the truth. 
We would expect them to speak the truth then, 
if they ever speak it ; it is a poor time to utter false- 
hoods. Somehow we attach a great deal of importance 
to the utterances of dying men. The last words of 
this and that person, especially if the person is eminent, 
are treasured up and repeated as having special signifi- 
cance. A dying man has no time for generalities, and 
no breath for much speaking. His words are likely to 
become epigrammatic and forceful. 

Here we have the utterances of two men near the 
close of life. Both were eminent, and both have left 
an imperishable fame. We ask them from this out- 
look what they think of life ; and one from his stand- 
point, with his experience and observation, cries, 
" Vanity, all is vanity ; " the other talks like a con- 



5^ 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



queror and speaks of a good fight and a glorious 
crown. Solomon finishes his life with a doleful wail ; 
Paul finishes his with a joyful triumph. 

Let us study the lives of these two men. 

Solomon was the son of a king, reared in a palace, 
accustomed to luxury. Paul was of common parent- 
age, though of good extraction, a free-born Roman 
citizen. Solomon was noted for wisdom, famed for 
his just decisions, and said to be the wisest man that 
ever lived. Paul was not lacking in intellectual en- 
dowments, taught at the feet of Gamaliel, a good 
scholar and a profound thinker, as his Epistles show. 
Solomon was occupied with building the first temple, 
for which his father prepared. Paul founded churches, 
gathered converts, and was a master builder on that 
great spiritual temple which is composed of human 
hearts. Solomon, as his name indicates, was a man of 
peace. Paul was one whose life, as the text intimates, 
was a continual fight. 

We may regard these two men as in some sense 
types, — representatives of classes. One represents the 
school of ease and worldly indulgence, and the other 
that of toil and self-sacrifice. Yet it is the easy, self- 
indulgent man who at the end of life cries " Vanity," 
while it is the laborious, self-denying man w T ho lifts 
the shout of a conqueror. In the whole range of his- 
tory there are not two men so well versed in their line, 
or who could so well give us the results of their ex- 
perience. Solomon goes through life possessing all 
things, and winds up with " vanity/' Paul had nothing, 
— naked, destitute, forsaken, — and his cry rings in our 
ears like the bugle blast of victory. All that the world 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 



53 



understands by glory pertained to Solomon. Jesus 
pointed to a flower and said, " Solomon in all his glory 
was not arrayed like one of these." What are the 
things for which men commonly strive? Kingly gran- 
deur was his; palatial luxuries surrounded him. His 
eye, his ear, his appetite demanded nothing which he 
could not supply. Learning was his ; he wrote books, 
spake proverbs, and composed songs. He knew the 
names and qualities of everything in the vegetable 
and animal kingdom. Fame and honor were his ; his 
name was known abroad ; kings reverenced him ; the 
Queen of Sheba made him an honorable visit; and 
people from all parts of the earth came to see and 
admire the man. Long life, too, was given him in 
which to enjoy all these good things. It is difficult to 
conceive of the sumptuous pleasure and self-indul- 
gence in which this great man lived. It was as if God 
let him try everything, that he might tell others how 
unsatisfying he found them all to be. Let the witness 
speak for himself. Solomon, what have you to say? 
This is his answer: "I sought in my heart to give 
myself unto wine, . . . and to lay hold on folly, till I 
might see what was that good for the sons of men, 
which they should do under the heaven all the days 
of their life. I made me great works ; I builded me 
houses ; I planted me vineyards : I made me gardens 
and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind 
of fruits : I made me pools of water, ... I got me 
servants and maidens, ... I had great possessions ; 
... I gathered me also silver and gold, ... I gat 
me men-singers and women-singers, and the delights 
of the sons of men. ... So I was great, . . . and 



54 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, 
I withheld not my heart from any joy. . . . Then I 
looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, 
and on the labor that I had labored to do : and behold 
all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no 
profit under the sun." Now let the other witness testify. 
Paul, how was it with you? When a man dies they 
inventory his estate. Here is Paul's summary as given 
by himself : " In afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, 
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in 
watchings, in fastings ; of the Jews five times received I 
forty stripes save one. Thrice was I beaten with rods, 
once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night 
and a day I have been in the deep ; in journeyings 
often, in perils of waters, in perils of robbers, in perils 
by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, 
in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils 
in the sea, in perils among false brethren; in weariness 
and painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger and 
thirst, in fastings often, in cold and nakedness." " I 
have fought with beasts at Ephesus." " I die daily." 
Yet this is the man who at the end of life talks like a 
conqueror and speaks of his heavenly crown ! There 
was no " Vanity, vanity " upon his lips. Life to him 
was a great battle, and he had come out of it scarred 
yet triumphing. " I have fought a good fight," he 
could say, as if he were a conquering hero returning 
to his home. The devotion of this man amazes us. 
He had talent and learning, and might have been an 
eminent doctor of the law. He might have had riches 
and honor and worldly luxuries ; but he turned away 
from these, counting all things but loss for Christ. Of 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 



55 



his life in general he writes : " Even unto this pres- 
ent hour we both hunger and thirst and are naked, 
and are buffeted, and have no certain dwelling-place ; 
and labor working with our own hands : being reviled, 
we bless; being persecuted, we suffer it. Being de- 
famed, we entreat: we are made as the filth of the 
earth, and are the offscouring of all things unto this 
day." Think of this man without a home, refusing 
to take pay for preaching, saying, " Neither did we 
eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with 
labor and travail night and day, that we might not be 
chargeable to any of you ; " with scarcely a change of 
raiment, — we should not know that he had a cloak, 
but for the accident of his leaving it at Troas, — travel- 
ling about the country thus, suffering these privations, 
enduring this reproach, in constant danger of his life ; 
and then at the close uttering no complaint, but look- 
ing proudly at his life battle, expressing the highest 
satisfaction, and uttering the language of triumphant 
joy. 

Thus do the two men appear before us, — Solomon 
and Paul. It is true these are extreme cases. It is 
not possible to be kings like Solomon, nor are we 
asked to suffer like Paul. Yet if we are ambitious in 
either direction, it is better to model after Paul. His 
was the grander life; he fills a larger space in the 
sacred narrative and in the admiration of men. If 
multitudes left their homes to see and honor the Is- 
raelitish king, much more might larger numbers flock 
to behold and regard with admiration the great Chris- 
tian apostle. It seems to me that on reaching heaven 
the first man whom I would wish to see after Christ 



5 6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



is the glorious Paul. It is thought that the Proverbs, 
Ecclesiastes, and Canticles are evidence of Solomon's 
repentance. He had much to repent of; and if a true 
child of God he was a great backslider. Let us hope 
that we shall find him in heaven ; but he will fill no 
such place there as Paul. Paul sent his riches on in 
advance; Solomon left most of his behind. When 
we hear a man at the end of life crying " Vanity, 
vanity!" we must consider how he lived; when we 
hear a man shouting " Victory, victory ! " we must see 
what it is that gives him this joy. 

Now, every one of us is walking in one or the other 
of these paths, — the path that leads to vanity, or the 
path that leads to victory; striving for the life that 
ends with dissatisfaction and complaint, or the life 
that terminates, like a well-fought battle, with shouts 
of victory. It is a matter for regret that so many are 
ready to try Solomon's experience rather than Paul's. 
Not that it is desirable that any should suffer more 
than is necessary, or resort to practices that have 
" a show of wisdom in will-worship, and humility, 
and neglecting of the body." It is not necessary to 
become monks or ascetics, nor should we covet tribu- 
lations for their own sake. But to aim to live an 
unselfish, earnest, devoted Christian life, — this is what 
every one should do ; this is the life that shall bring 
the greatest happiness and the largest reward. Nor 
can those who think the path of pleasure preferable 
gain one half of what Solomon enjoyed, with his 
judgment at the end of it that such a life is vain. 
Yet most are walking in Solomon's path, and but few 
are walking in Paul's. Most prefer the life of pleas- 



SOLOMON AND PAUL, 



57 



ure with its unsatisfying portion, to the path of self- 
denial and sacrifice with its blessed reward. The 
sentiment " No cross, no crown" is beautiful for a 
symbol, but it is seldom incorporated into the life. 
Most want their good things here, if, like Dives, after- 
ward they are eternally tormented. We are living in 
a materialistic age. Many circumstances have com- 
bined to make it so. Earth, sense, time, lie nearest 
to us and affect us most. 

It is a matter for regret that many young men have 
such false views of life, that success is thought to lie 
in the direction of worldly gain. Too many regard 
the successful man as the man that gets rich; the 
way is of less account. Mammonism is one of the 
perils of our times. Our country is new; its re- 
sources are great; fortunes are made easily; the 
greedy and reckless are most sure to win. Alas, that 
it cannot be seen that there are higher aims ! When 
will our young men learn that mere acquisition is not 
success; that it takes more than money to make a 
man; that money without character is a failure? 
We have had men since Solomon's day who pat- 
terned after him, but who failed likewise. We must 
not misjudge ; Solomon was not a success ; Paul was. 
The successful life is that which does most for man- 
kind, which brings the most happiness, and which 
enables one to close his course here with a shout of 
victory. Cannot the young men be persuaded to 
look away from the " grand chances," the short roads 
to fortune, the giddy offices, the places of power, and 
see that even if these positions have been reached 
honestly, and are held honorably, there is still some- 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



thing more to be coveted ; namely, the satisfaction of 
a useful life and the quiet of a contented heart? Do 
not think that true happiness is to be found along 
the path of luxury and self-indulgence. The happy 
man is the man whose thoughts, purposes, and life 
are most empty of self. Paul had nothing, suffered 
everything, and yet his life was a perpetual song. 
We may not be martyrs or foreign missionaries; 
we may not devote our lives to visiting hospitals and 
caring for the sick and poor ; but the more we possess 
the spirit out of which these persons are made, the 
happier shall we be. Goodness is something, too, at 
which all may aim ; a noble life is within the reach 
of every man. Other ends are sometimes illusive. 
Wealth is deceitful. If riches are success, then but 
few succeed. Talent and learning are not given to 
all ; but the humblest can make his life a benedic- 
tion, and by gentle charities, by thoughtful kindness, 
and manly deeds, can write his name on human hearts, 
and make his memory last when prouder monuments 
have perished. My heart yearns for the young men, 
that they may see the grandeur of life, the splendid 
opportunities that lie about them, and do their best 
for God and man. I would have each so live that 
the review shall be satisfactory, and that his last utter- 
ance shall not be a wail of " vanity " but a shout of 
" victory." 

It is a matter for regret, further, that in the Church 
the standard of Christian living is so low. Self-indul- 
gence rather than self-sacrifice is a feature of our times. 
But few covet the pastoral office or the missionary 
work. The gifts of the churches are small compared 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 



59 



with the amount possessed and the necessities that 
call. But little restraint is laid on the desire for 
worldly gratifications. It is hard to distinguish be- 
tween those in the Church and those out of it, — pro- 
fessors and non-professors of religion. There is but 
little of agonizing prayer, or weeping over the impeni- 
tent. What are termed " revivals of religion " seem to 
have become in some places obsolete or impossible. 
Even the pulpit is said to have lost its power. The 
sterner doctrines are held in abeyance, and the distinc- 
tions of saint and sinner, heaven and hell, have disap- 
peared from the utterances of some pulpits. Not all, but 
many, want an easy gospel preached to them. They 
like to have it said that the old-time Christians were too 
strict ; that the old-fashioned Sabbath has had its day ; 
that amusements once counted questionable are proper ; 
that extravagant attire and sumptuous living are well 
enough if you can afford it; that worldliness and re- 
ligion are quite compatible, and that the way to heaven 
is not so difficult as some have been wont to think. 
Now, I do not wish to present religion in an unfavora- 
ble light, or to make its duties seem hard. I would 
not advocate self-denial and self-sacrifice if I did not 
find them in this Bible. But I see that Christ died for 
us, and that Paul gloried in tribulations, and that the 
command is, " Strive to enter in at the strait gate ; " 
and I do not see that there is any other way. I find 
that we are charged not to be conformed to this world ; 
to watch and pray ; to deny ourselves ; to take up the 
cross and follow Christ; to present our bodies a living 
sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God. I see it is 
written of the glorified, " These are they which came 



6o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



out of great tribulation ! " Will not some Christians feel 
foolish to stand there with no more of cross-bearing 
than they know? If we are going to speak with Paul, 
and have fellowship with martyrs, and exult with con- 
querors, we must be conquerors too. You may rest 
assured that the discovery of the easy way is not the 
gospel way. The preaching of smooth things may 
beguile, but it will never hold up the cross, honor our 
Christ, or save a sinner. In the estimate of some, Paul 
must have been a fool. Solomon was the wise man, who 
withheld his heart from nothing, and got all he could of 
pleasure out of this world. But Paul — he lost every- 
thing ; and if the mighty facts that moved his great 
soul were not facts, he was a fool. But these things 
are true. Paul had the right of it ; and when we balance 
vanity against victory, the wail against the shout of 
joy, we see that Paul was the wiser of the two. It is 
Paul's spirit that we must possess ; it is Paul's words 
that we must repeat; it is Paul's method that we 
must adopt, — to waken men from the sleep of sin, and 
to make the New Testament revelation an all-conquer- 
ing gospel. 

We may not tarry, but this is what I would say : To 
live a noble life, we must have high aims of usefulness 
and good. If we have riches, let us be thankful for 
these, and so use the unrighteous mammon that when 
it fails, the friends made by it shall receive us into 
everlasting habitations. But whatever our possessions, 
opportunities, or gifts, we must be unselfish. Next 
after Christ we must be like Paul. We must recognize 
the great facts of sin and redemption. We must 
puzzle ourselves not with the mystery of sin, but 



SOLOMON AND PAUL. 



61 



exult in making known the wonderment of its cure. 
We must understand our responsibilities, and act as 
our relations to the most solemn interests demand. 
We are not to be morose and tearful, but while we toil 
and battle, happy in what we accomplish and jubilant 
with hope. We are to speak by our life, saying, " We 
are journeying to a better country; come along." We 
are to manifest a sweet contentment with our lot, bear- 
ing what is sent and glorying in infirmities. We are 
to make the most of our time, letting no opportunity 
slip. We are hoping for that crown ; we want to close 
our life with Paul's words, not Solomon's. Nor must 
we suffer it to be a starless crown ! We have some- 
thing more to do than simply get to heaven ourselves, 
— though there is risk enough in this, — we must aim 
to bring others with us also. Of how many could 
Paul write, " For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of 
rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our 
Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? " Do not leave it 
to ministers, the church officers, or the few, to win 
these trophies ; but, Paul-like, let your life be an earnest 
one, the fight a good one, and then when the end 
comes you shall triumph too. 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



I find the gayest castles in the air that were ever piled far 
better for comfort and for use than the dungeons in the air that 
are daily dug and caverned out by grumbling, discontented people. 
I know those miserable fellows, and I hate them, who see a black 
star always riding through the light and colored clouds in the sky 
overhead : waves of light pass over and hide it for a moment, but 
the black star keeps fast in the zenith. But power dwells with 
cheerfulness; hope puts us in a working mood, while despair is 
no muse, and untunes the active powers. An old French verse 
runs in my translation : — 

" Some of your griefs you have cured, 

And the sharpest you still have survived ; 
But what torments of pain you endured 
From evils that never arrived ! " 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 



V. 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



Rejoicing in hope. — Rom. xii. 12. 



HE young men of a certain parish in decorating 



J- the church at a Christmas-time suspended above 
the pulpit from gallery to gallery the words in large 
evergreen letters, "Rejoicing in Hope;" and for the 
rest of the winter minister and people had this motto 
to look at as an inspiration and a goal. 

Hope inspires joy, and joy inspires hope. You 
never meet a hopeful person who is not a joyful per- 
son; and you never meet a joyful person who is not a 
hopeful person. There is something beautiful both in 
the rhythm and the sentiment of Campbell's " Pleasures 
of Hope." It is not altogether right to call this world 
"a vale of tears," or to affirm that " man was made to 
mourn." Man was made to be happy. The stormy 
days are few compared with the sunny ones. There 
is more blue sky than black. Smiles outnumber tears. 
It is monkish and stoical, and it gives false ideas of 
life, to teach that we must suppress all that is gladsome 
in our nature. Sorrow we cannot escape ; joy we can 
cultivate. It is as natural for a child to play, as for a 
lamb to gambol; and in putting away childish things, 
it is only meant that we shall keep the child, if we 




5 



66 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



change the things. None seem so unnatural and for- 
bidding as those who never smile. One may laugh to 
silliness, and he will have friends ; but if he is wise 
as a philosopher, but cold as an iceberg, he will be left 
alone. It is the man with a warm loving heart, who 
weeps with the afflicted and rejoices with those who 
rejoice, who exerts the most influence, has the most 
friends, and does the most good. When a well-known 
minister at the West was called to an Eastern city, a 
leading paper of the city he was about to leave thus 
spoke of him : — 

"Not a clergyman in this city has found a home in the 
heart of the people like that which he occupies ; not one 
could leave us and be missed by every church and every creed 
as a personal friend, as will he. The very sight of his face 
was a medicine for any hurt, and the grip of his hand was a 
tonic for any doubting, despairing one. Of that religion of 
the heart which brings one into close warm sympathy with 
men, women, and children, which rejoices with those who re- 
joice, which weeps with those who mourn, which aids those 
who are suffering, which strengthens those who are weak, and 
which makes life seem brighter, fresher, and better worth living 
for us all, he knew the secret, and was the chosen high priest." 

I bring to you the text as inculcating an important 
Christian duty. We are told that the distinguished 
Dr. Griffin, President of Williams College, once said 
to a class of theological students whom he had 
invited to his house, " Young men, I wish to teach 
you the Christian duty of laughing." Says one, 
" There was much sound philosophy in the venerable 
preceptor's words, which he happily illustrated for 
more than an hour; and we can but wish that all 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



6 7 



theological professors could suggest as sagaciously to 
their pupils that there is a 'time to laugh' as well as 
' to weep.' " In keeping with what has been said, 
another remarks : — 

" A cheerful face is nearly as good for an invalid as healthy 
weather. To make a sick man think he is dying, all that is 
necessary is to look half dead yourself. It is a fact beyond 
dispute that mirth is as innate in the mind as any other qual- 
ity; it only wants cultivation, and the more we cultivate it, 
the more fruitful it becomes. Mirror-like the world reflects 
back to us the picture which we present to its surface. A 
cheerful heart paints the world as it sees it, like a sunny land- 
scape; the morbid mind depicts it like a sterile wilderness. 
And thus, chameleon-like, life takes its hue of light or shade 
from the soul on which it rests, dark or sunny, as the case 
may be." 

Christianity is often misrepresented by those who 
profess it, and misjudged by those who behold its dis- 
torted features. It is thought to be something serious 
and sombre, when it is the most joyous thing in the 
world. The gospel is glad tidings, and its culmination 
is the fruition of heaven. Our transgressions, it is true, 
are saddening; but as the writer from whom I just 
quoted observes, — 

" We are not to go robed in black, with bowed heads, sing- 
ing penitential psalms, because sin has reigned unto death in 
this world, but to remember that * where sin abounded grace 
did much more abound,' — that the curse of the law is 
removed, and that death will be shortly swallowed up in 
victory." 

The difficulty with us is that we go to extremes. To 
keep clear of sobriety we become hilarious; to guard 



68 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



against hilarity we substitute a moping melancholy. 
It is between these two extremes that we are to steer, 
neither swaying to the extreme of pleasure nor verg- 
ing to the extreme of gloom. 

Now, in urging the duty of a buoyant, hopeful, 
cheerful piety, what shall I say? Shall I ply you 
with arguments? Shall I prove what you know? But 
this I may do ; I may suggest a few points : — 

1. The goodness of God should make you happy; 
especially His goodness to you as an individual. 
You have vastly more to make you happy than you 
have to make you sad. Your condition is better than 
that of most. If you have lost in respect to earthly 
things, you have more left than has been taken. If 
you pine for the absent, you will meet them again. 
When your heart sinks, begin at once to take an in- 
ventory of your mercies. It is an old mandate, — 
" Count up the mercies, count up the mercies." 

2. Redeeming grace should lift you above disquie- 
tude and gloom. If you have a Christian hope, you 
should rejoice in it. " Rejoicing in hope." If God 
has distinguished you by adopting you into His family 
and making you His child and heir, ought even real 
griefs very much to cast you down? "Why should 
the children of a king go mourning all the day?" It 
seems impossible that you can think of God as your 
father and friend, of your sins as forgiven, and of 
heaven as your home, and be very much disturbed 
by the losses and disappointments that belong to 
your earthly lot. " Our light affliction, which is but 
for a moment ! " Blessed words ! " Light," compared 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



with the " far more exceeding and eternal weight of 
glory." 

3. To make a right impression and to exert a good 
influence upon others we must be cheerful. "Ye are My 
witnesses," says God. And we ought not to be so un- 
true as to misrepresent religion. Men judge of it as it 
is exhibited by us. If we are sour, morose, austere, 
gloomy, they conclude that our religion makes us so : 
at least, that it does not help us. If we are not cheered 
and supported by it, they conclude that it can do 
nothing for them. It seems as if some believe that to 
become pious is to disfigure the countenance and ex- 
hibit and suffer all the misery of dyspepsia and ennui. 
I believe, moreover, that sorrow begets sorrow, and joy, 
joy. A discouraged man is a very discouraging man. 
So mirth kindles like a flame. Feelings are catch- 
ing. James T. Fields, in one of his popular lectures, 
speaks of three Chinamen meeting three chimney-sweeps 
on one of the streets of London. The appearance of 
each to the other was so grotesque that they began to 
laugh, and the more they laughed the more they had to 
laugh. Then the passers-by joined in the merriment. 
This brought others to the spot, and they laughed ; 
and finally it went rippling out from street to street, 
and the whole city was stirred with joy. More than 
this, I believe that cheerfulness conduces to long life. 
It has seemed to me that old people are always sunny. 
It is the radiance of their hearts that has kept them 
alive. The fretting ones have fretted themselves out 
of the world. I am reminded of Father Waldo, who 
was a chaplain in Congress at the age of ninety-five, 
and who preached with acceptance after he was one 



7o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



hundred years old. Once I asked him how it was that 
he had managed to live so long, and his reply was, 
" Because I have not all my life long been fighting 
against Providence." At the age of ninety-five he 
wrote in my autograph album, with firm hand and 
careful punctuation, these words : — 

" How sweet is the hope that to mortals is given, 
There 's a home and a rest for the weary in heaven ; 
Then why should we murmur, whatever betide, 
But still in submission look on the bright side." 

4. The Scriptures, as if recognizing our tendency to 
be sad, urge and command us to rejoice. It is not only 
anomalous, incongruous, unreasonable, and ungrateful 
to wear a sad countenance, but it is disobedience to 
God. The Jews were required to serve the Lord with 
gladness ; having their days and feasts in which praise, 
thanksgiving, and joy were to be expressed. In ex- 
planation of plagues it is written : " Because thou 
servedest not the Lord thy God with joyfulness and 
with gladness of heart." Again and again we read : 
" They sang praises with gladness ; " " they kept the 
feast with gladness ; " " there was very great gladness." 
The Psalms are full of joy. What frequent calls to 
praise ! " Let the children of Zion be joyful in their 
king." " Let the saints be joyful in glory : let them 
sing aloud upon their beds." Even mountains and 
trees, fire and hail, beasts and birds, must join in the 
mighty anthem. And in the New Testament it is 
Jesus who says: " Be of good cheer; I have overcome 
the world." We read that a fruit of the spirit is joy. 
" The kingdom of God is love, joy." And with re- 
peated emphasis the command is given : u Rejoice in 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



the Lord ; " " Rejoice always ; " " Rejoice evermore ; " 
"Rejoicing in hope." It strikes me that these words 
are among the grandest in the whole Bible. I would 
like to see them hung up as a motto in every dwelling. 
I wonder that people will adopt " Welcome," " God 
bless our Home," and other man-made expressions for 
illuminated texts, and not use this one as God-given, 
radiant, luminous, and beautiful above all other by the 
embroidery of a divine hand. 

5. Then, further to encourage and incite us, the 
Scriptures furnish examples of Christian joy. They 
present but few cases of piety coupled with gloom; 
and those are simply occultations, brief eclipses, mo- 
mentary-transits in the lives of good men. Who writes 
more sorrowfully than David, yet what are most of his 
Psalms but outgushes of joy? Now and then there 
is the minor key, but the grand harmony moves for- 
ward on the chords of ecstatic joy. The Psalms were 
written for the use of the Church, and they are not for 
lamentation but for praise. Jeremiah was the weeping 
prophet, yet he foresaw that the desolate streets of Jeru- 
salem should again ring with " the voice of joy and 
the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and 
the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say, 
' Praise the Lord of hosts ; for the Lord is good ; for his 
mercy endureth forever; ' and of them that shall bring 
the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord." Ha- 
bakkuk had an awful conception of the divine majesty. 
He was filled with " trembling," and his " lips quivered." 
Yet out from quivering lips the sublime song arises: 
" Although the fig-tree shall not blossom, neither shall 
fruit be in the vines ; the labor of the olive shall fail, 



72 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



and the fields shall yield no meat ; the flock shall be 
cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in 
the stalls: yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy 
in the God of my salvation." Mention is made of 
eminent saints who took joyfully the spoiling of their 
goods ; we are referred to those who were examples 
of suffering affliction and of patience; to others it 
was written : M Though now ye see Him not, yet 
believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full 
of glory." Paul suffered the loss of all things, yet 
his spirit was not bound ; he gloried in tribulations ; 
he took pleasure in infirmities; he died daily; but 
his heart was jubilant and his life was a perpetual 
song. 

The question comes to us, How shall this grace of 
Christian cheerfulness be obtained? 

i. We must have piety enough to make us cheerful. 
A modicum of piety seems to act like an insufficient 
quantity of medicine, having power to excite and de- 
velop the disease but not to work a cure. The reason 
why so many are sad is not because they have piety, 
but because they have so little of it. A converted man 
cannot enjoy the world; and if he has but little piety 
he cannot enjoy religion, and so he becomes the mop- 
ing disciple who does so much to misrepresent religion. 
Now it is plain that as religion is a joyous thing, the 
more one has of it the more joyful he will be. Religion 
lights up the heart, produces a divine peace, gives fore- 
tastes of heaven. It is something real, visible, tangible. 
Besides, it is an antidote to grief, and thus in a two- 
fold manner brings joy. It creates joy and it dispels 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



73 



sadness. Into how many dark places have its rays pene- 
trated, converting a prison into a palace, and a home of 
sadness into a house of joy ! There is much to make 
us sad here ; but religion is the divine touchstone that 
transmutes the quality of our experiences, making weak- 
ness strength, losses gain, and even tears to harden 
into pearls of joy. Now, if this is such a valuable pos- 
session, it is something that we cannot have too much 
of. Certainly if religion is the source of happiness, the 
more religion you have the happier you will be. " Re- 
joicing in hope." Brighten your hope and you will 
brighten your joy. 

2. Something must be said with regard to health. 
The physical man has much to do with the spiritual. 
With diseased digestive organs, in weariness or pain, 
it is hard to be cheerful. I have no doubt that persons 
often appear to be moping Christians, when it is their 
health and not their piety which is at fault. And I have 
no doubt that persons sometimes fancy that they are in 
a state of spiritual decline, when it is the physician rather 
than the minister whom they need to see. Nor can 
we always judge how much piety one possesses by the 
cheerfulness he exhibits. One person may have much 
piety, but this may be obscured and paralyzed by physi- 
cal weakness and pain. Another may have little piety, 
but with a sanguine temperament and good health he 
may seem to be more pious, and his piety may be more 
pleasing and impressive. If our state of health is be- 
yond our control, we can only submit to it, and find 
what joy and exhibit what grace we may in acquiescing 
resignedly to the will of Providence. But if we can 
give our piety a warmer glow and shed more light and 



74 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



joy by uniting physical health with spiritual grace, 
it is our duty to do so. These bodies are temples 
of the Holy Ghost, and we must take good care of 
them. We have no right to abuse our powers, to 
eat, drink, or labor beyond proper limits, to carry 
pleasure to exhaustion, to rob ourselves of sleep, 
or to let work and worry throw a chill and gloom 
over our life. Not only are our own health and hap- 
piness concerned, but by neglecting ourselves we may 
misrepresent religion and do harm to others. Do not 
let ill health make you a moping Christian if you can 
help it. 

3. A grand method for obtaining cheerfulness is 
to engage in doing good. It is a joy to help others. 
The way of usefulness is the way of happiness. The 
benevolent heart is fullest of song. It is no wonder 
that the selfish Christian walks in gloom. He has not 
looked into eyes that beam with gladness at some 
good received. He has not heard words of thank- 
fulness that fall with a sweetness on the ear like the 
melody of music. He has not seen the changes for 
the better which his own loving hand or deeds have 
wrought. He has cleared no waste ; he has reared no 
monument; he has planted no tree; he has dug no 
well. Happiness is a fruit; happiness is an effect; 
happiness comes from doing ; it is something that you 
are to invest for. You cannot have it unless as the in- 
terest on your deeds. The man who invests nothing 
should expect no dividends. " There is that scatter- 
eth and yet increaseth." " The liberal soul shall be 
made fat." " He that watereth shall be watered." 
How strange it is that we do not better understand 



REJOICING IN HOPE. 



75 



this ! The more we give and do for Christ the more 
shall come back to us. Is it not so? Have you not 
tried it? I say, to be a happier Christian you must 
be a wide-awake Christian, full of alms and good 
deeds. A gentleman complained to his pastor that 
he did not feel as much interest in some object of 
benevolence — it may have been foreign missions — 
as he wished that he felt. His pastor replied, " Give 
to it; give more; keep giving till the interest 
comes." If you ever feel unhappy, go out and 
seek somebody whom you can bless. If you want 
more joy, make others glad, and happiness shall come 
to you. 

4. If it is worth while to add anything more, I would 
say, take a special interest in the young. Love them and 
associate with them. It is said that there is a physio- 
logical law making it objectionable for aged people to 
sleep with the young. Old age, it is affirmed, absorbs 
the vitality of youth. Let it be so spiritually ; it will 
not harm the young, while it will help the old. All 
gain elasticity, buoyancy, vigor, by contact with the 
young. Years wear out the lineaments of childhood ; 
but as we associate with children, enter into their pleas- 
ures and laugh at their sports, the boy comes back, 
and our hearts glow with the radiance of olden times. 
Children keep us from growing old too fast. It is a 
familiar saying, "Long with children, long a child." 
Pity on the man or woman who does not love children ! 
Was there ever a sunny face behind which there was a 
cold heart toward children? So then I say, Smile on 
the children ; love them, sympathize with them, draw 
them about you, mingle with them, and the happiness 



;6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



of childhood shall fill your own soul. Thus have I 
suggested the duty and the method of Christian 
cheerfulness. 

May the Lord's blessing accompany the message, and 
cause it to awaken in your hearts an echo of joy ! 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



We must be ashamed neither of the person, the character, the 
doctrines, nor the requirements of Christ. If we are, if we deny 
Him in these things before men, or are unwilling to express our 
attachment to Him in every way possible, then it is right that He 
should disown all connection with us, or deny us before God, and 
He will do it. 

Albert Barnes. 



VI. 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 

And why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I 
say f — Luke vi. 46. 

IN every congregation there are persons who believe 
themselves to be Christians, and who no doubt 
are Christians, but they do not join the Church. The 
causes that produce this anomalous class are many. 
Some were regenerated in childhood, too early to note 
the change, and so continue waiting for a change to 
come. Some are hindered by others, — the wife by 
the husband, or the husband by the wife ; or without 
opposition one waits for the other. A parent may 
restrain, at least not encourage his child. Some lack 
moral courage to take this step, and some think that 
they must make themselves better before they take it. 
Some think that they can lead an easier life outside 
of the Church, while holding to their hope ; and some 
have a dislike to certain persons with whom they must 
fellowship if they join the Church. Some are hin- 
dered by doctrinal difficulties, and are undecided be- 
tween churches. Some cherish their hope feebly ; they 
hardly dare think that they are Christians, and timidity 
keeps them out. Some observe that their experience 
differs from that of others, and so they are waiting for 



8o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



views and feelings similar to theirs. Not one of these 
persons would admit that he is not a Christian, that he 
does not love Jesus, and has not a hope of heaven. 

Now, it is to this large class of non-professors that 
I would speak to-day. The text seems applicable to 
you. " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the 
things which I say? " The best test of love to Christ 
is confession; the best evidence of discipleship is 
obedience. I do not see how a man can claim to be 
following Christ, when he refuses to call himself by 
His name. Staying out of His Church is prima facie 
evidence that you are not His friend. Do you not see 
that it is your duty to quit this neutral and uncertain 
ground? You do not like indecision or two-sided- 
ness in other matters. Is it too much for Jesus to 
say, "Let My friends enroll themselves and bear My 
name"? If a man is cherishing a false hope, and is 
not a Christian at all, he ought to know it. If he is in- 
dulging in a secret satisfaction that will bring him dis- 
appointment, he ought to be undeceived. Now, Christ 
says plainly, " If any man will come after Me, let him 
deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow 
Me." " He that is not with Me is against Me, and he 
that gathereth not with Me, scattereth abroad." " Who- 
soever, therefore, shall confess Me before men, him 
will I confess. . . . But whosoever shall deny Me be- 
fore men, him will I also deny." 

Now, let me speak a few plain words to those of you 
who think that you are Christians, but from some pecu- 
liarity in your circumstances, or for some mistaken rea- 
son, are not members of the Church. You are not likely 
as a class to be addressed frequently ; for when words 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



Si 



are spoken to the Church, or to a member of the 
Church, what is said is not quite appropriate to you ; 
and when the sinner, the unbeliever, is addressed and 
urged to repent, it does not mean you. The truth is, 
there ought not to be this intervening anomalous class ; 
for all the friends of Christ should come out and over 
to His side and openly and publicly profess His name. 
Let me ask your attention to this matter for a little. 

I. Here is the Church. Has not Jesus gathered 
and organized His friends into a visible active form? 
What does He mean when He says, " Tell it to the 
Church " ? And how can there be a Church if none 
join it? And why should one man join it more than 
another? No one disputes that there is a Church, and 
that it is made up of just such poor and faulty persons 
as we see in it. Christ loved the Church, and gave 
Himself for it. He appointed ordinances in His 
Church. He instituted baptism and the Lord's Sup- 
per. He says, " Believe and be baptized." It is 
not enough, then, to believe simply. He says, " Do 
this in remembrance of Me ; " it is necessary, then, 
to observe the Lord's Supper. If He releases you, 
does He not release every other believer, and what be- 
comes of His Church? Is your case so singular that 
others must feel these obligations but you be excused? 
Is it like the call for troops in a time of war, but you 
are deficient of an eye or a limb and cannot enlist? 
Is it inability or lack of patriotism that keeps you 
from coming to the front and standing in line with the 
rest? I start with the point that, there being a Church, 
it is every man's duty, who claims loyalty to Christ, to 
join it. In old times the distinction was very marked 

6 



82 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



between the sons of God and the children of men ; also 
between the Jews and the Gentiles, the circumcised and 
the uncircumcised. And it ought to be as marked now 
between saints and sinners, believers and unbelievers, 
friends and foes ; a man ought to be distinctively on one 
side of the line. Where do you stand, — on this side 
or that? On this side, you say. If with believers, why 
not enrolled? Why may not a Jew have reasoned that 
he could be just as good a Jew if he were not circum- 
cised and did not conform to prescribed observances? 
But that left him outside of the covenants, and he 
was counted as an alien, like the surrounding heathen. 
Would God have gathered His people and created 
a Church if He regarded it as of light importance 
whether any join it or not? 

2. Next, it would seem that simple gratitude would 
move and carry a man quite into the Church, and not 
halt him at its door. Gratitude led Naaman to turn 
back twenty-five miles out of his way to thank Elisha 
for his cure. He might have gone straight from the 
Jordan to Damascus, and saved the distance and the 
time. Besides, he would be in haste to get home and 
show himself cleansed. It was characteristic of those 
whom Jesus healed to acknowledge His goodness and 
publish His fame. See, yonder go the lepers, obedient 
to Jesus' command, to show themselves to the priest. 
And now as they go they are cleansed. Nine of them 
kept on ; but one of them, too deeply moved, turned 
back, and not in a private or quiet way, but " with a 
loud voice glorified God ; " and that man was a Samari- 
tan, not a Jew. "And Jesus said, Were there not ten 
cleansed ? but where are the nine ? " That question Jesus 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



83 



seems to ask at every Communion season, when an 
opportunity is given to profess His name. Another 
striking instance is that of the lunatic that wandered 
naked among the tombs. A legion of devils had en- 
tered into him, but Jesus cast them out and sent them 
into the swine. And now, clothed and in his right 
mind, he asks that he may stay with Jesus ; but Jesus 
says, " Go home and tell what has happened to you." 
" Show how great things the Lord hath done for thee." 
u Show this." The man departed and began to publish 
in Decapolis, that is, in ten cities, " how great things 
Jesus had done for him." Has not Jesus done greater 
things for you ? Then we have the case of the woman 
bowed eighteen years with an infirmity. Jesus laid his 
hands on her and immediately she was made straight. 
But observe, on being made straight she glorified God. 
Has not Jesus lifted a greater weight from you? So 
the blind men, by Jesus' power and grace made to see, 
departed and " spread abroad His fame in all that 
country." So it was, apparently, in every case of help 
and healing. I can hardly see how a man can cherish 
a secret hope, and not let his emotions drive him into 
an open confession of Christ. It seems so cruel, too, 
not to acknowledge the One by whom you are saved ! 
You have a hope, you feel that Jesus has forgiven and 
saved you, yet you will not tell the world so by join- 
ing His Church and professing His name. 

3. Again, there is a command here, — a command 
that is above the authority or wishes of friends, or any 
wishes of our own. It is disobedience not to comply. 
How can Jesus tell men to be baptized, to remember 
Him in an ordinance, in a " This do," to confess Him 



84 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



before men, to take up the cross and follow Him, and 
then leave it optional with them to do these things or 
not? Note again that command which Jesus gave the 
lepers : " Go show thyself to the priest." The Mosaic 
law required that when a man was healed of the leprosy 
he should take a present and go before the priest and 
be examined and officially pronounced clean. Hence 
Jesus said, " Go show thyself to the priest, and offer 
the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto 
them," — that is, for a testimony unto the people ; let 
them have the proper evidence that you are really 
healed. It is as when one is discharged from the hos- 
pital, having had an infectious disease. The people are 
not prepared to receive him unless he brings the physi- 
cian's certificate that he is entirely recovered. So when 
a man is healed from the leprosy of sin, it is not enough 
for him to know it; he ought to come to the Church 
and say: " Pronounce upon me by examination, and let 
me stand before the world as a saved and healed man ; 
give me your confidence, admit me to your fellowship, 
own me as a Christian, because you find in me the 
proofs of healing." Suppose the lepers had refused 
to go to the priest; suppose Naaman had declined to 
go to the Jordan; the leprosy would have clung to 
them and to him still. The way of obedience is the 
way of healing. Commands cannot be set aside ; 
scruples must not override law. The text is very 
emphatic, — " Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do 
not the things which I say?" 

4. Again, a man who takes neutral ground gives 
comfort and support to the enemy. " He that is not 
with Me is against Me ; and he that gathereth not with 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



85 



Me scattereth abroad." Doubtless there ate persons 
out of the Church whose lives are more consistent than 
the lives of some in it. It is behind such that others 
hide. Wicked men claim all as with them who are not 
members of the Church ; and when they are urged to 
lead better lives, they speak lightly of faulty professors, 
and refer to some of you as being as good men as they 
care to be. They do not see that you have repented 
and they have not. Thus your example tends to keep 
them where they are. If you would say to them, " I 
am not trusting in my desires and purposes ; I am not 
relying on my outward morality and good name ; I am 
depending only on the Lord Jesus Christ ; I have an in- 
ward experience of His love, and I am trying to fol- 
low Him in the way He has marked out," it would shake 
their confidence and bring them to feel their need of 
Christ too. A man by saying that he can get to heaven 
without joining the Church stands in the way of others ; 
he may get there, but they may be lost. A parent by 
staying out discourages his children. It is hard for 
them to crowd past him into the Church. 

5. Yet again, the Church needs you. It is a cause that 
you can help, and there is an earnest call for recruits. 
God might save the world without human agency, but 
He does not work in that way. We are co-workers 
together with God. The heathen will be converted, 
and the kingdom come, only as believers work for this 
end. All the great charities need help. The field is the 
world ; the harvest is plenteous, but the laborers are 
few; pray ye the Lord of the harvest that He will send 
forth laborers into His harvest. Give to the Church 
your prayers, your sympathy, your confidence; give 



86 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



the simple benefit of your name. The Church will feel 
stronger if it can say, " This good man is one of us." 
Some of you have a high sense of honor and a correct 
conception of what a church-member ought to be. 
Come in and help the Church with these sentiments, 
and give to it the benefit of your endeavors and of 
the standard that you have raised. Possibly it is this 
very conception that keeps you out of the Church : 
you feel that you cannot come up to your own stand- 
ard. But you can try, and it will help. Do not say, 
" I am not good enough." The Church is a hospital, 
and all that is required, to enter it, is to feel and admit 
your need. Think of a sick man saying, " I will enter 
the hospital when I feel a little better, or when I am 
able to walk in for myself" ! The more unworthy you 
feel yourself to be, the more welcome will you be. If 
a man stays out of the Church because he is not good 
enough, he ought to stay out of heaven for the same 
reason. If a sense of unworthiness, or your great con- 
sideration, leads you to decline coming into the Church, 
it ought much more to lead you to decline going to 
and accepting a seat in heaven. What ! shall a man 
ascend to those blissful seats and say to the Lord, 11 1 
did not think myself good enough to join the Church, 
but I am very glad to come in here"? Think, too, of 
being in the minority there ! The great number have 
been enrolled ; they have sat at the Lord's table ; they 
have had blessed foretastes and sweet prelibations ; 
they have known the delights of Christian fellowship ; 
they have had the seal of baptism ; they have worn 
the badge and uniform, and like fellow-soldiers can 
recall battle-scenes and glorious victories ! You, hav- 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



87 



ing come there by saving faith, shall still have to feel, 
through all eternity, that you did not come there like 
others, — bound by common ties, and enrolled as a 
member of the visible Church. 

Possibly you are displeased at the life of some of 
the members, and do not wish to fellowship with them. 
You say, " I cannot endure these faulty Christians." 
But if you are going to live with them through eternity, 
can you not bear with them for a little while now ? 
And if they are going to be lost, can you not put up 
with them just for the present, when you will be rid 
of them so soon and forever? Judas was in the little 
Church, and faulty members will creep in. What mat- 
ters it, if you yourself are right? 

Perhaps you say you hesitate because the churches 
are so many, and you know not which to join. Join the 
one nearest at hand, or that where you naturally and 
commonly worship. It needs you ; and if it does not 
quite accord with your views and preferences, you can 
enjoy yourself and be useful there. You say, "There 
are such differences among the denominations ! " But 
creeds and doctrines and forms are like the names on 
the city cars and omnibuses, indicating the different 
companies and lines. One conveyance may be more 
agreeable than another because of its appointments, 
or because you have friends in it; but it would be folly 
to stand on the street and let every conveyance pass 
because there was more than one line. Do not hesitate ; 
take the first car that comes along, if you can get into 
it and it is going in the right way. 

6. I say finally, you need the Church. 

The Church not only needs you, but you need the 



S3 



LIVIXG FOR THE MASTER. 



Church, — its sympathy, prayers, help ; its watch and 
care; its opportunities and appliances for usefulness; 
its stimulating ordinances; its comforting services. 
You can be more happy and more useful in the Church 
than out of it Your piety will have a better field and 
a larger growth. You will want to do more and you 
will do more, if you are a recognized member of the 
Church; and you will enjoy more because of doing 
more. Our happiness is proportioned to our usefulness. 
No man liveth to himself, and you should make the 
most of yourself possible. Allowing that a man is loyal 
as a citizen, it is little that he can do for his country 
alone. The Government must uniform him, put him 
in the ranks, give him ammunition, tell him where to 
go. The Church can utilize you. Staying out of the 
Church is like soldiering alone. Nor should any 
hesitate to unite with the Church on account of ad- 
vanced age. If you are old, and not yet a Christian, 
you can be. Think how many times Jesus gave heal- 
ing to inveterate cases. The man blind from his birth 
and now of age, the man at the pool of Bethesda with 
an infirmity of thirty-and-eight years, the woman diseased 
with an issue of blood twelve years, the woman that 
was bowed together eighteen years, the man lame from 
his birth and above forty years of age, whom Peter 
healed at the beautiful gate of the Temple, — all these 
show that the Great Physician is able and willing to 
heal even chronic distempers. Let the oldest, then, 
take courage, and come to Jesus even now with the 
spirit of a little child ; and coming to Him for heal- 
ing, take your place in the Church with others to whom 
He has said, "Thy faith hath made thee whole." Some 



JOINING THE CHURCH. 



8 9 



cases of joining the Church at an advanced age are 
well known. Among fifteen persons received into a 
church in Brooklyn was a lady ninety-three years of 
age, who was received on confession of faith. Another 
was received into a church in New York, aged one 
hundred and twelve. A distinguished Albany minis- 
ter gives an account of a gentleman whom he received 
at the age of eighty-seven. He says of this man : 

" Having given to his pastor the assurance of his firm belief 
in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, and his cordial accept- 
ance of all the doctrines of the Holy Scriptures, I several 
times approached him upon the subject of making a public 
profession of his faith. When he had reached his eighty- 
seventh year, I was one evening sitting by him at his table 
in his little room, and said to him, * I do not know how you 
feel, but I do not feel willing to have you pass into eternity 
without leaving behind you your personal testimony to the 
divinity and blessedness of the religion of Christ. You and I 
must die, and how soon God only knows. In all human prob- 
ability you will go first, and I desire that you may meet the 
Saviour as a disciple who has confessed Him before men.' " 

He promised to think of the matter. At the next 
Communion, with tottering steps he took his place at 
the Lord's table. 

"From that hour a new life of peace and joy opened to 
him. God spared him for five years after this event, and he 
was present at every Sabbath service and Communion season 
until his bodily strength failed and he could no longer come. 
In his pleasant home he quietly waited the summons to go up 
higher ; and departed in peace and with the hope of a glorious 
immortality." 



9 o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



From cases such as these let others be encouraged, 
even late in life, publicly to profess their faith in Christ. 
And let all — the oldest, the middle-aged, and the 
youngest — who feel that they are Christ's come into 
visible connection with His people. How can you claim 
to love Christ and not publicly acknowledge Him? 
Hear again those earnest words of the Saviour : " Why 
call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I 
say?" How glorious the promise, and how awful the 
threat : " Whosoever therefore shall confess Me before 
men, him will I confess also before My Father which 
is in heaven. But whosoever shall deny Me before 
men, him will I also deny before My Father which is 
in heaven." 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



A Christian is one that believes things he cannot compre- 
hend ; he bears a lofty spirit in a mean condition; when he is 
ablest, he thinks meanest of himself. He is rich in poverty, and 
poor in the midst of riches. He believes all the world to be his, 
yet he dares take nothing without special leave from God. He 
covenants with God for nothing, yet looks for a great reward. 
He loses his life and gains by it; and while he loses it he 
saves it. 

Francis Bacon. 



VII. 



DEATH TO LIFE. 

He thatfindeth his life shall lose it; and he that loseth his life 
for My sake shall find it. — Matt. x. 39. 

THE text is a little obscure, but I think we under- 
stand it. It sounds contradictory, but it seems 
to mean that there is such a thing as a death to a life, 
a going down to a going up, self-abnegation to a 
perfectly developed manhood. The Great Teacher 
spake as never man spake. He enunciated truths 
that were startling. He threw Himself against com- 
mon beliefs. In the realm of thought He brought 
His followers to see that things most paradoxical 
are nevertheless true. And as they drank into His 
experience they felt the power of these divine 
contradictions. 

We follow the Divine Teacher, and we discover 
more and more that His was a death unto a life. 
We hear Him saying yet again : " Except a corn of 
wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone ; 
but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. He that 
loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his 
life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal." The 
late Senator Hill, of Georgia, a few days before he 
died wrote, as he could not articulate: "If a grain of 



94 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



corn will die and then rise again in so much beauty, 
why may not I die and then rise again in infinite 
beauty and life? How is the last a greater mystery 
than the first? And if in so much I exceed the grain 
of corn in this life, why may not I exceed it in the 
new life? How can we limit the power of Him who 
made the grain of corn to live again in such newness 
of life? I believe my affliction has changed my 
heart, and that it has worked out my purification." 
So it is ; the corn of wheat must die. It might wish 
to lie hidden in some nook of the husbandman's barn. 
But remaining there it shall abide alone. It shall 
neither build on itself — expand and develop its own 
powers — nor contribute to the common good. But if 
it can consent to be cast out, if it can go down into 
the earth and die, — lose its own organization and 
experience dissolution and corruption, — there shall 
spring from it a germ that shall lift itself into the 
sunlight, bend to the play of the breezes, and bring 
to perfection numerous forms similar to its own. The 
seed that was found in the Egyptian mummy re- 
tained its life, but lay useless for thousands of years ; 
but, discovered and cast out, it has multiplied itself, 
till now, grains that have been reproduced from it 
are shown as curiosities in every land. The process 
of dying and decay is hard; but out of the buried 
ashes springs a life of ennobled and multiplied power 
and usefulness. 

It seems strange that any should overlook this truth 
when the illustrations are so numerous. All around 
us death and life are following each other in end- 
less round. Life subsides into death, and death gives 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



95 



birth to a new life beyond. Day dies into darkness 
and darkness disappears at the birth of day. Spring is 
displaced by summer ; summer turns over to autumn 
the fruits it has mellowed ; autumn dies in the embrace 
of winter, and winter departs that spring may come. 
Rachel, dying in giving birth to her son, is in some 
sense a type of all. " Ben-oni, — son of my sorrow," 
said the mother. " Benjamin," said the father, — " son 
of my right hand." Pain and sorrow antedate the 
support and comfort of each house. In some sense 
all parents are dying for their children. The descend- 
ing spoke is the signal for the next to rise. Our 
children are the Eleazars who succeed to our robes 
and our office. But the thought is not a painful one ; 
we are willing to die in such service. Nay, our 
highest joy consists in seeing our children rise. The 
little nest-builders come to us with the early summer, 
rear their young broods, and soon are gone. But they 
sing just as sweetly, and do not cease to toil, because 
before another spring their nest will be vacant, and the 
winter snows lie where the little eggs were warmed 
into life. " Onward, onward ! " is the grand cry ; and the 
multitudes behind are pushing to try the experiences 
of our life. 

But it is not to the recognition of a natural law that 
I wish now to call your attention. I only use this as an 
illustration.- " Like as," says Christ, " there is a death 
unto life in Nature, so there is in the realm of human 
experience and in the highest order of soul-living." 
Christ's death gave life to the world ; His expiring cry 
was the Rachel voice which recognized that in the sac- 
rifice of Himself He was giving life to many spiritual 



9 6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



children. Thus is explained that saying : " When Thou 
shalt make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see 
His seed." He shall see the grand results, the vast 
fruitage of His death for men. So, then, to be Christ- 
like we must have this same self-sacrificing spirit ; and 
when we come into the death-state we shall really be 
most near to living. The more we die the more we live ; 
the more we make our life an offering the more abun- 
dant will our life-fruitage be. The selfish life is the 
mummied corn; the unselfish life is the seed cast 
forth. Men understand what is meant by the close, 
penny-wise policy in matters of business, and they know 
that it makes the one who practises it pound-foolish 
in the end. There is wisdom in the maxim, " Noth- 
ing venture, nothing have." Sometimes our greatest 
risks and extremest perils break into ecstatic joys. 
We hear the expression, " Man's extremity is God's 
opportunity." If there were no extremities, there 
could be no opportunities, and hence no interposing 
hand. Our desperate states are essential to the exer- 
cise of the highest power. We must go down into 
pain and darkness, that we may rise into light and 
joy. It is astonishing that men do not see this 
more. The discipline of life is to develop the highest 
manhood, and he is most manly who is most disci- 
plined. In our own country particularly, many of the 
most successful business men are those who learned 
endurance when young; and not a few who hold 
office and exert power had their first training in 
schools of toil. The Scriptures are ever inculcating 
that discipline leads to enlargement, that self-abnega- 
tion is the highest virtue, and self-conquest the grand- 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



97 



est victory. How strange the language : " He that is 
least among you, he shall be the greatest." " Whoso- 
ever shall exalt himself shall be abased ; and he that 
shall humble himself shall be exalted." " There is 
that scattereth, and yet increaseth ; and there is that 
withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to pov- 
erty. The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that 
watereth shall be watered also himself." " He which 
soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly ; and he 
which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." 
See : we must throw away, that we may gather ; we 
must scatter, if we would increase ; we must come low 
and serve, if we would be greatest of all. Christ him- 
self has set the best example. And then we have the 
Christ-like Paul, who said, " I could wish that myself 
were accursed from Christ, for my brethren, my kins- 
men according to the flesh ; " and who poured himself 
out in such broad charities that his life, next to the 
Saviour's, has accomplished more for the world than 
that of any other man. Yet what was his life but a 
" dying daily " ? How he rejoiced in knowing the 
fellowship of Christ's sufferings! I fear that but few 
Christians of our day know what that means. The 
phrase " the martyr spirit " is often on the lips, but 
where are the men that possess this spirit? And why 
are not more ready, in spite of pain and peril, hin- 
drance and hurt, to go and tell dying men of God's 
grace in Christ? Why is not the standard of holy 
living higher; and why are not the reservoirs of 
strength fuller, and the channels of benevolence 
broader and deeper in their flow? 

Now, my friends, I want you to appreciate this grand 

7 



98 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

principle, — that by losing we shall find ; by dying we 
shall live. The soul must reach that last condition 
in which it can say " All for Christ," and then it has 
touched its lowest point, and shall rise henceforth in 
the ascending scale. You have seen that contrivance 
in the cities, whereby the coarse and heavy articles, 
the bricks and the mortar, are raised to the highest 
stories in the construction of those great buildings. 
There is a sort of elevator moved by steam or ani- 
mal power, by which one barrow is carried up with 
its burden while another descends by its side empty, 
to be loaded again. I have watched the process, and 
it had a voice for me. The descending barrow, dis- 
charged of its burden, seemed to say, " See, this is 
the way to rise again; we go down empty that we 
may come up full." I noticed, further, that the as- 
cending load was not secured, but that it might fall 
back till it reached a certain point above, where it 
was clasped and held. So we must each come near 
enough to Christ to let him throw His loving arms 
around us and hold us ; and we must go down to 
the bottom — to the bottom — if we would rise to the 
top. We may say, " Lord, this is a disagreeable 
process ; " but He says, " I know of no other way. 
The disciple is not greater than his Master ; and the 
descent that I took was from the most excellent glory 
to make the upward way a possibility for you." 

I say then, my friend, to be a Christian at all you 
must die. If you cannot die, you cannot live. You 
must die to self-dependence, to self-righteousness, to 
self-esteem. You must die to pride, to worldliness, 
to covetousness, to vain ambitions, to angry and rc- 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



99 



vengeful feelings, to every evil lust and passion. Give 
up the life of sin, and you will find the life from God. 
And then with the new life there will be a deadness 
still. It is written, "For ye are dead; and your 
life is hid with Christ in God." But this deadness is 
to sin, while the new life is full of activity and vigor 
in a godly way. Thus the more dead we are, the 
more shall we be alive; the greater the conscious- 
ness in the world of grace, the less the knowledge 
and sensibility in the world of sin. 

And then comes that higher life of self-sacrifice, 
which only those attain who have partaken most of 
Christ's sufferings and been baptized most into 
Christ's mind. The primordial law of Christianity 
is, to love the Lord our God with all our heart, and 
our neighbor as ourselves. It has been charged on 
Christianity that it is speculative and formal, stick- 
ing to words and rites, and leaving love to man too 
much out of account. The later theology, it is claimed, 
takes a wider range, is more humanitarian and practi- 
cal in its observation and regard. But Christianity 
is not done when it has saved the individual and 
rectified one's relations to his Maker. It includes 
the neighbor, and excites to love, rouses desire, 
and quickens effort. Christ was the first missionary ; 
Paul was the great apostle to the Gentiles ; and he 
comes nearest to his Leader whose sympathies and 
efforts broaden to include the world. Selfishness is 
opposed to the missionary spirit. The numbers that 
have gone forth, their labors and sacrifices, with the 
gifts that have been made, prove what is the senti- 
ment of the Christian Church. With the first breath 



100 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



of renewed life comes the inquiry, "Lord, what wilt 
Thou have me to do?" The effect of true religion is 
to dethrone self ; and the more self is crushed out in 
the soul, the more expansive and all-embracing does 
love become. Those who have wept most for hu- 
manity were those who thought least of self. 

To widen man out into his largest capacity it is 
commonly necessary to lay upon him afflictive strokes. 
Discipline purifies as fire tries the gold. "Via crucis, 
via lucis." The sweetest odors are gained by crush- 
ing. The metal agonizes in the crucible, but it is 
thus that its best qualities are brought out; the way 
of the cross is a way of pain and darkness, but it leads 
into the light ; the poor crushed leaves cry out at the 
bruising, but it is thus they give forth their divinest 
odors and sweetest life. It sometimes occurs that 
sickness has been the sanctifying means by which the 
soul has lost its dross. Sometimes an untold agony, 
an inward grief has been gnawing at the heart. 
Sometimes the loss of friends, grievous disappoint- 
ments, the alienation of those in whom we once con- 
fided, the endurance of poverty, personal deformity, 
a family sorrow, a helpless and deficient child, have 
been the graving-tools by which God has brought 
the soul into its best condition. It was hard to bear; 
but like the stone in the hands of the lapidary it was 
thus that its brightest hues were brought out. Some 
of the sweetest poetry that was ever written has come 
from the chambers of suffering invalids, whose piety 
seemed sublimated and their minds etherealized by 
the infirmities of their frame. Henry Kirke White, 
Cowper, Mrs. Browning, the Carys, could not have 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



written lines of such exquisite grace and beauty but 
for the delicate sensitiveness and sweet refinement 
connected with the loss of health. Mrs. Steele, — 
called Mrs. as was Hannah More, by English 
courtesy, — whose name like Watts's is associated 
with so many of our precious hymns, was herself 
severely disciplined in the school of Christ. When 
an infant she was let fall from the nurse's arms and 
became a cripple for life. Her father was a clergy- 
man, and on him she waited with unremitted devo- 
tion through all the days of his protracted life. 
When a young lady she was engaged to be married. 
The nuptials were arranged, and the party had as- 
sembled, when tidings came that the gentleman 
whom she was to marry had met with sudden death 
by drowning. The poor crushed heart ! Yet out of 
her bitterness she wrote : — 

" Father, whate'er of earthly bliss 
Thy sovereign will denies, 
Accepted at Thy throne of grace, 
Let this petition rise, — 

" Give me a calm, a thankful heart, 
From every murmur free ; 
The blessings of Thy grace impart, 
And make me live to Thee. 

" Let the sweet hope that Thou art mine, 
My life and death attend; 
Thy presence through my journey shine, 
And crown my journey's end." 

That prayer was answered. God's presence was with 
her, giving her a sweet hope in life and death, and 



102 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



crowning her journey's end. It is written of the poet 
Longfellow, that " after the tragic death of his wife, 
the undercurrent of sorrow never left him. Fame, 
like suffering, seemed only to ripen and mellow his 
pure heart. Writing to a friend, he described him- 
self as 1 to the eyes of others outwardly calm, but 
inwardly bleeding to death.' After his death a son- 
net was found among his papers of which this is 
the last stanza : — 

i There is a mountain in the distant West 
That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines 
Displays a cross of snow upon its side. 
Such is the cross I wear upon my breast 
These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes 
And seasons, changeless since the day she died.' " 

Nor can any one give expression to strong emotions 
and violent passions who has not had some experi- 
ence of the same. Ah, how we shrink from discipline ! 
and yet it is to refine the spirit and make an early 
death antedate an immortal fame ; or it is to develop 
a robust character and lift one up to become the 
strength of his times, or the stay and support of a 
great nation. Jesus chose His apostles from men 
inured to toil; the twelve were tried men; and it 
is a common remark that those ministers have most 
of breadth, sympathy, and tenderness who have felt 
some thorn of physical suffering, or have had ex- 
perience of the severest inward struggles, or have 
been most schooled in the outward discipline of life. 
As one writes : " He will most surely startle an echo 
in the soul of others who has the best knowledge 
of his own nature. According to that fine saying of 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



103 



Augustine, a man must first descend into the hell of 
his own heart before he can ascend into the heaven 
of God. Sometimes a man even needs to be melted 
up and run over in the crucible of affliction before 
he can acquire the experience and power that will 
enable him to startle others with the thunder of truth. 
The oftener God's graving-tools are at work upon the 
soul, the better for that soul's own well-being and for 
its usefulness. Irritating as the strokes of the chisel 
sometimes may be to flesh and blood, we should 
rather be anxious to have them inscribing upon us 
through suffering that new name which no man 
knoweth save he that receiveth it." Blessed is the 
man who can rise superior to pain and see in every 
hammer-stroke and chisel-cutting the inscribing in his 
forehead of the Father's name ! 

Most people are fond of pictures. There is a cele- 
brated engraving, the work of a distinguished Ger- 
man artist, in which he has expressed in a striking 
form his conception of Melancholy. It embodies and 
suggests the dark and difficult things of life; and 
from these some of our best lessons are to be learned. 
A winged woman is seen in the foreground, her head 
resting on her hand and her elbow resting on a large, 
open book. It is the genius of knowledge and toil. 
Just now it is an interval of cessation from labor, and 
with wearied, pensive look she gazes on the world 
before her, yet seems abstracted and sees nothing. 
In her hand are open compasses, and at her feet lie 
the implements of the carpenter, the geometer, and 
the alchemist, and near them rests a sleeping dog. 
Over her head are poised balances and a square 



104 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



window with sixteen lights, each of which contains a 
number. In whatever way you add these numbers, 
up and down, right and left, or diagonally, they foot 
the same, — thirty-four. By the side of the window 
is a bell, and an hourglass with sands half run. On 
a millstone in front sits a small winged boy with 
slate and pencil. Off in the distance the sea stretches, 
beyond which are castles and towns. The sun has 
gone down, and a fiery comet lights up the sky and 
threatens the world below. But above there is a 
rainbow arch, and across it a bat flies with out- 
stretched wings, bearing a scroll on which is written 
" Melencolia." 

The whole picture represents the half we accomplish 
and the little we know. The open book speaks of 
knowledge to be attained ; the open compasses, of 
work to be done. The idle instruments and the sleep- 
ing dog suggest a suspension of labor. The square 
whose numbers foot the same, with the poised bal- 
ances, is the symbol of scientific certainty as compared 
with the vagueness and uncertainty of metaphysical 
and moral reasoning. The hourglass indicates that 
time is far spent and the bell is ready to ring out the 
departure of another soul. The winged boy on the 
millstone, with tablet and pencil, tells of life's begin- 
nings. The sea with its castles and towns emblem- 
izes civilization and the labors of man. The setting 
sun, the fiery comet, and the winged bat speak of 
darkness, fear, and pain; but above all stretches the 
rainbow arch of hope. An eminent English clergy- 
man, commenting on this picture, which has been 
admired for four hundred years, uses these words : — 



DEATH TO LIFE. 



105 



"Our strong crying and tears in effort which has never 
reached its earthly end, our long and unrewarded toil of 
love and knowledge are not lost in us. As the forces of the 
sunlight stored up in the vegetation of the coal break forth 
again millions of years afterwards to cheer a happy fireside 
at Christmas-time with light and heat, so the stored-up force 
of our endurance will manifest itself as passionate joy under 
new conditions of being. Nay, we may even measure the 
hidden force of life within us by the depth of sorrow." 
" The true remedy for that which is painful and dark in this 
life is to penetrate steadily into the very depths of the dread- 
ful mystery ; to comprehend what destiny and evil and death 
mean ; to go down into hell and know it and conquer it. This 
is what Christ did ; this is what Paul did. Brethren, if we wish 
to win this conquest, we must do in action and thought the 
same, — realize the evil of our own hearts, and of the world, 
fully and entirely, and set ourselves to meet it, resolving to 
be true and fearless, to keep our integrity and purity so far 
as possible clean and bright ; yet not in avoidance and ignor- 
ing of evil and its mystery but in battle with it; not look- 
ing too much to the other world, but living seriously in this 
world ; not seeking too much for peace of heart, nor expect- 
ing it, but in much tribulation following Christ ; not queru- 
lously complaining of intellectual difficulties, but waiting and 
working in sad but resolute faith towards light." 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. 



And when the night comes, and the weariness 
Grows into fever, and thy anguish grows 
Fiercer, and thou beseechest Him with tears, 
" Depart from me, O Lord, and let me rest ! " 
He will not leave thee, He will not depart, 
Nor loose thee, nor forget thee, but will clasp 
Thee closer in the thrilling of His arms, 
No prayer of ours shall ease before their time. 
He gives His angels charge of those who sleep : 
But He Himself watches with those who wake. 

Ugo Bassi. 



VIII. 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. 

When I remember Thee upoti my bed, and 7neditate on Thee in 
the flight watches. — Psalm lxiii. 6. 

r I S HE Jews at first divided the night into three 
watches, but afterward into four, according to the 
custom of the Romans. These watches began at the 
going down of the sun and continued till the break 
of day. The three watches were designated as the 
evening, middle, and morning watches. The four 
were known as the first, second, third, and fourth 
watches, and again as the evening, midnight, cock- 
crowing, and morning watches. We find frequent 
references to these watches in the Scriptures. In 
the middle watch Gideon surprised the Midianites ; 
in the morning watch Pharaoh and his host were 
drowned in the sea; in the fourth watch Jesus 
appeared to His disciples walking on the sea. 

There is something pleasant in thinking of the night 
as thus divided into watches. As man needs pro- 
tection in darkness and sleep, it was natural to make 
such a division of time for municipal and military 
purposes. There are watches on shipboard, and there 
is the changing of sentinels on land. Foreign princes 
are surrounded by body-guards who must at regular 
intervals be relieved. In the larger towns and cities 



no 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



the heavy tread of the watchman may be heard, and 
his voice crying out, " All is well." 

Wakeful hours all must have. Sickness, excite- 
ments, and numberless worriments remove sleep from 
our eyes. It is pleasant at such times to hear the 
striking of the clock and note the progress of the 
hours. Especially pleasant is it to the devout mind 
to lift the thoughts to God and meditate on Him as 
the great Watchman who never slumbers or sleeps, 
and who is keeping us within His sheltering love and 
care. It is remarkable how often the Psalmist speaks 
of thus directing his mind to God. It mattered not 
whether his bed was in the city palace or in the 
wilderness, in Jerusalem or the cave of Engedi; the 
stones may have been his pillow, as they were Jacob's ; 
but when he slept he slept sweetly, and when he 
could not sleep his heart found rest in God. Hence, 
as in the text, he speaks of remembering God upon 
his bed and meditating on Him in the night watches. 
Nor is it strange that one who could say, " Oh how 
love I Thy law ! it is my meditation all the day," 
should carry that meditation into the night. If God's 
statutes were his song in the house of his pilgrimage, 
it is no wonder if there was melody in his heart at 
night. Nay, so great may be the joy that one feels, 
even in painful circumstances, that his heart shall 
break forth into singing. The jail at Philippi wit- 
nessed strange scenes that night when Paul and Silas 
not only meditated but made that old prison ring 
with their notes of joy. It would seem as if God gave 
these quiet night hours for special spiritual improve- 
ment. He veils the world from sight. He stops the 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. Ill 

wheels of business and hushes the noise of traffic, 
that we may see more of His glory and catch more 
audibly the utterances of His voice. He turns down 
the lights of time and worldly interests, that we may 
see in more marked impressiveness the tableaux of 
grace, — the cross of Calvary, the way of life, the soul's 
opportunities, the harps of the redeemed, the home in 
glory. With such themes to meditate upon, there is 
opportunity and scope for night thoughts, and sat- 
isfaction in cherishing them. The poet Longfellow 
speaks of a " gentle face " that appeared to him 

" In the long sleepless watches of the night." 

There is something mysterious connected with the 
thoughts of the night. Oftentimes that which has 
eluded us through the day will come to us clearly 
amid the studies of the night. Some of our most use- 
ful inventions have been thought out upon the bed and 
almost dreamed out between a condition of sleeping 
and waking. Oftentimes has the scholar roused him- 
self from his slumbers to put down that which in more 
wakeful moods he had failed to master. It would 
seem as if the genius of thought came with greater 
readiness to eyes half closed. At least, there is some- 
thing in stillness and darkness favorable to medita- 
tion. And if secular learning has its votaries and 
often rewards the thoughtful with new discoveries 
may it not be so with knowledge that is divine? 
And may not God send ministering spirits to com- 
municate with those who are inquisitive as to His 
will and who seek to commune with Him? In some 
way angels wait upon the people of God. May there 



112 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



not be more of these about our pillow in the night 
hours than when we are out amid the engagements 
of the day? How do thoughts arise in our minds? 
May they not depend in some measure upon the in- 
fluence of good or bad spirits? And when the in- 
tellect grasps a truth, who shall say that it was by the 
mere exercise of a natural gift, and not by some 
special divine influence upon the mind? Certain it 
is that no discovery or invention has ever been 
thought out or accomplished at a time or by an 
agency different from that which God designed. In 
some way He kept back other minds and led these 
on, or suffered them to go on and reach the dis- 
covery. It is not a mere sentiment that says, — 

" Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth 
Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep." 

The promise to the people of God is, " He shall give 
His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy 
ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest 
thou dash thy foot against a stone." As they do not 
lift us up physically, it must be a spiritual influence 
and an unseen protection that they exert and render. 
There are those who attribute undue weight to dreams 
and midnight impressions. If they seem to have a 
strange and extraordinary revelation, they are ready to 
ascribe it to God, and think it must have much sig- 
nificance and tell in some way on their future destiny. 
Persons sometimes will recount what was marvellous 
in their conversion. Now, it may be that sleeping 
thoughts are not half so true or important as waking 
ones, and are not in the least to be recalled, repeated, 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. 113 

or relied upon. Besides, it is natural that whatever 
is upon the mind when we fall asleep should still im- 
press or linger before it in phantoms and visions. In 
a time of revival the mind may be greatly aroused, 
and this may account in a natural way for some of 
the visions that it seems then to have. There is no 
doubt that in olden times God did speak to men in 
dreams and visions. "God spake unto Israel in the 
visions of the night." It was in the night that He 
called Samuel. It was generally by visions that He 
communicated with the prophets. The secret of 
Nebuchadnezzar's dream was revealed to Daniel in a 
" night-vision." It was by a series of visions that 
Ezekiel had the burden of his prophecy unfolded to 
him. The prophecy of Isaiah is prefaced with the 
words, " The vision of Isaiah." It was on a night when 
Ahasuerus could not sleep that the records were 
brought and so the lives of Mordecai, the queen, and 
all the Jews were saved. It was by a vision that a 
revelation was made to Zacharias concerning John. 
Paul had visions ; so had Peter ; so had Ananias and 
Cornelius. At the same time we are to bear in mind 
that the Book of Revelation is complete, and that 
the working of miracles ceased with the apostolic 
age. We believe in special providences, however, and 
we are willing to admit that God in His divine sover- 
eignty may exert an influence upon the mind in 
dreams, or impress it in some way in the more or less 
wakeful hours of the night. 

The circumstances connected with the conversion of 
Colonel Gardiner, who fell in the battle of Prestonpans, 
are remarkable. It appears that to while away an hour 

8 



U4 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



at night, after an evening spent with his gay associates, 
he took up a book which his mother had slipped into 
his portmanteau without his knowledge. He was at- 
tracted by the title of the book, — " The Christian Sol- 
dier," etc., — and beginning to read fell into a sleeping 
or waking vision. He thought he saw a light; the Sav- 
iour hung on the cross before him, and a voice sounded 
in his ears to this effect, " O sinner, did I suffer this for 
thee, and are these the returns ? " He was overwhelmed 
by the vision, sank down upon his chair, and continued 
for a time insensible. Says a writer : — 

"These facts cannot be dismissed as the fancy of an 
enthusiast. Their occurrence cannot be doubted. The 
only question that can arise respecting them is as to their 
interpretation. And on this point no reasonable doubt can 
be entertained that the subject of them fell asleep and 
dreamed, and that God made the dream the means of his 
conversion. If he had returned to his evil courses, the whole 
might be treated as the mere offspring of an excited imagina- 
tion and a disturbed conscience. And even as it was, im- 
agination and conscience were both at work ; but then they 
were called to their work, and were made to impress sacred 
truths by some power foreign to the man's own soul. This 
we infer from the results. ' It cannot in the course of nature 
be imagined/ says Dr. Doddridge, his biographer, 'how 
such a dream should arise in a mind full of the most impure 
ideas and affections, and — as he himself often pleaded — 
more alienated from the thoughts of a crucified Saviour than 
from any other object that can be conceived; nor can we 
surely suppose it should, without a mighty energy of the 
Divine power, be effectual to produce not only some transient 
flow of passion, but so entire and so permanent a change in 
character and conduct.' " 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT 115 



As God is the author of all being and the dispo- 
ser of all events, I see nothing unreasonable in sup- 
posing that He suffers a strong impression of an event 
about to take place to seize upon our minds, and 
so prepares us perhaps to meet that event when it 
comes. Persons may dream that they are going to 
die, and the impression or fright be so affecting as 
to cause death. The seeds of disease may already 
begin to germinate in the system before the disease 
is known, producing a morbid state of mind and in- 
citing to dreams which predict or finally eventuate in 
death. This may be by natural laws; and then, I 
say, with this I see no objection to holding — at least 
it is not possible to refute it by argument — that God 
may so direct the mind to a circumstance by His 
providence as to make it seem like a revelation. An 
extraordinary instance of this kind is furnished in the 
case of a distinguished New England minister, the 
late Rev. Dr. Joseph Buckminster. While away from 
home, travelling for his health, he experienced a re- 
lapse and was about to die. He had a son settled 
in the ministry at Boston, who was at the same time 
stricken down with a sudden and severe illness, but 
of which the parents at that time were wholly igno- 
rant. The dying father having passed a night in 
prayer, said to his wife in the morning, " My son 
Joseph is dead." She, supposing him to have been 
dreaming, answered, "No, he was well a few days 
since, and we shall see him when we return." " No," 
said he, calmly and decidedly, " he is dead." That 
day the father died, and, as he had said, it was found 
that his son had died several hours before. In the 



Il6 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

" Reminiscences" of the late Rev. Dr. Spring we are 
informed of an impression that came to his mother in 
the night. She had lost a favorite son at sea. He 
was the youngest of the family and a youth of great 
promise. For a long time she was distressed, espe- 
cially lest he had died without a Christian hope. She 
sought in her wakeful hours — too sorrowful to sleep — 
to cast her burdens on the Lord, but had little com- 
fort until suddenly one night these words came to her 
with the force of a conviction and brought wonderful 
refreshment to her soul : " And in the fourth watch 
of the night Jesus went unto them walking on the 
sea." She felt an assurance that Jesus had appeared 
on that other sea at the fourth watch of the night to 
hear the cry and save the soul of that precious boy. 
But, visions aside, there is a sense in which Jesus 
comes to us over the sea. Sometimes He waits till 
the fourth watch ; but if the night be dark, joy comes 
in the morning. Thus He came to that mother and 
comforted her in her grief. It may be literally in the 
night — not only in the night of sorrow but in the 
wakeful intervals of sleep — that Jesus' words shall fall 
most sweetly upon our ears, " It is I." To them that 
look for Him will He appear, even in the night. 

Now it is to be remarked that thoughts of God in 
the night bring joy. Read the words preceding the 
text: " My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and 
fatness ; and my mouth shall praise Thee with joyful 
lips ; when I remember Thee upon my bed, and 
meditate on Thee in the night watches." Our soul 
is satisfied and our lips are made joyful by thoughts 
of God. How endless and how numerous are the 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. 117 



themes furnished for meditation! Read the whole 
of the poet's, " Night Thoughts," beginning with the 
first line of the book : — 

" Tired Nature's sweet restorer, balmy sleep," 

and follow on through the complaint and consolation, 
through all that is written on Life, Death, Immor- 
tality, Time and Friendship, Christianity and Virtue, 
to the night address to the Deity, and how full are 
these of material for meditation ! We have the 
themes of Providence and Grace. We may dwell 
upon the attributes and works of God. We may 
recite the Scriptures, recall God's mercies, and lift up 
our hearts in prayer. Happy are they who store 
their minds with passages of Scripture, with articles 
of belief, and especially with beautiful hymns, for the 
meditations of the night. Wakeful hours will come. 
Happy are we if we can turn them to account with 
thoughts of God. From profounder doctrines we 
may turn to thoughts of the Elder Brother and of the 
heavenly home. Or if some earthly trial has fallen 
upon us, how delightful to think that this we may 
refer to God ! Have losses overtaken us, we may 
think of Him who will make up to us more than we 
have lost. Has death made a rent in our home circle, 
we may follow the loved one up to the bosom of the 
Great Giver, or lay down our treasure, saying, "We 
return this gift, O God, to Thee." Have we anxieties 
respecting our earthly estate, or do we tremble for 
children that have gone out to meet temptation and 
battle with seen or unseen foes, how blessed to feel 
that all these anxieties we may commit to God, and 



1 1 8 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

leave our business, children, friends in His hands ! 
How strange that we do not talk to God more when 
He comes to meet us in the watches of the night! 
Wicked men may lie awake to concoct schemes of 
wickedness. It is written, " He deviseth mischief upon 
his bed." " They sleep not except they have done 
mischief; and their sleep is taken away unless they 
cause some to fall." The worldling may be occupied 
with projects of gain, the ambitious with hopes of 
honor, and the conqueror with devices to defeat his 
foes. More than one general " at midnight in his 
guarded tent " has dreamed of the hour when con- 
quered peoples should bend the knee as suppliants at 
his feet. But the Christian's night thoughts take a 
nobler range. His ambition is to be more like God ; 
his great effort to gain conquests over himself. He 
wants wealth, but it is the true riches; he wants 
honor, but it is the honor that comes from God. 
And so as he lies in those wakeful intervals his heart 
goes out in holy breathings, — " Nearer my God to 
Thee, nearer to Thee." Ah, there has been many 
a Christian who has found thoughts of God in the 
night precious to his soul. David is not the only one 
who remembered God on his bed. It is recorded of 
John Welch, the son-in-law of John Knox, that he 
kept a plaid by the head of his bed that he might 
rise to pray. A historian states that " a distressing 
languor pervaded his frame, together with a great 
weakness in his knees caused by his continual kneel- 
ing at prayer; and no wonder, when we consider 
that he often spent whole nights in prayer in the 
church of Ayr." In this he followed the example 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT. 119 

of the Saviour, who prayed while His disciples were 
sleeping. 

" Cold mountains and the midnight air 
Witnessed the fervor of His prayer." 

And is it not these prayers of the night that avail 
most with God? As the sailor lies wakeful in his 
hammock, or the soldier gathers his blanket about 
him on the tented field, or, sick and wounded, rests on 
his hospital bed, then do not thoughts go out and 
prayers ascend most fervently for the loved ones at 
home? And as the mother thinks of her absent boy, 
her heart keyed to wakeful anxiety by the winds that 
howl around her dwelling, does she not with all a 
mother's fondness cry, " O God, protect and bless 
my boy"? What thoughts for his people does a 
pastor have in the watches of the night! How 
does his mind inquire after the truth they need, and 
seek by meditation and prayer to prepare for them 
that which will do them the most good ! How do 
his sympathies flow out toward the afflicted; and 
how earnest are his petitions that sinners may be 
converted and all strengthened and comforted by the 
Holy Ghost! And what joy is found in those night 
thoughts that speak to us of the reunions of heaven ! 
Those dear ones whose case lay with intensest interest 
upon our hearts may have passed beyond the reach of 
prayer. That dear boy for whom the mother prayed 
so tenderly may have sent home his dying message 
and passed beyond the vicissitudes and perils of time. 
And now, as the clock ticks and the hours pass 
wearily, how does the heart go up to the place where 
the loved one has gone, and what comfort comes 



120 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



in the thought that those who die in the Lord 
shall meet again ! So of all our friends that have 
passed on before; if they gave evidence of piety in 
this life, do we not love to think of them as now 
with Jesus? We picture those happy scenes; we see 
those harps and catch those strains, and, forgetting our 
loneliness, begin to feel in our own hearts something 
of that joy. We would not call them back. We are 
roused rather to new exertion and a better life, that 
when released ourselves we may go to be where they 
are. 

And then how peaceful are the Christian's night 
thoughts ! No fears begirt him round. If he has 
faith, he is as quiet as the child that sees the lamp 
burning by his bedside, beholds his mother's face, 
and hears her soothing voice as he goes down gently 
into his night slumbers. The wakeful Christian thinks 
of God as watching over him. He feels himself 
protected; and though he may place some reliance 
on locks and bolts, and believes that it is important 
to use these, he nevertheless knows that " except the 
Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build 
it; except the Lord keep the city, the watchman 
waketh but in vain ; " and so as he commits himself 
to rest, he says, " I will both lay me down in peace 
and sleep ; for Thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in 
safety." It looks like distrust where we lie awake 
trembling, thinking that every sound is the step of 
of an intruder and every noise the token of approach- 
ing danger. Is it not written, " He that dwelleth in 
the secret place of the Most High shall abide under 
the shadow of the Almighty"? 



THOUGHTS OF GOD IN THE NIGHT 121 



Now, what is the character of our night thoughts, — 
peaceful, happy, prayerful, full of Scripture, full of 
God? Do the angels visit us? Does Jesus come to 
us over the sea? We may have no marvellous dreams 
or visions ; but can we say, " My soul shall be satis- 
fled as with marrow and fatness ; and my mouth shall 
praise Thee with joyful lips ; when I remember Thee 
upon my bed, and meditate on Thee in the night 
watches " ? If these words express our feelings, we 
shall go by and by to a world where sleep and dark- 
ness do not come. 

May He who gives songs in the night fill our souls 
with peace, and fit us to ascend and sing the new song 
amid the glories of the eternal day ! 



BURDEN-BEARING. 



The law of Christ is the law of love ; and to love is not to 
wish well one to another, but one to bear another's burden, — 
that is, to bear those things which be grievous unto thee, and 
which thou wouldest not willingly bear. Therefore, if you see any 
brother cast down and afflicted by occasion of sin which he hath 
committed, run unto him, and reaching out your hand, raise him 
up again, comfort him with sweet words, and embrace him with 
motherly arms. 

Martin Luther. 



IX. 



BURDEN-BEARING. 
Bear ye one another's burdens. — Gal. vi. 2. 

I AM reminded of a significant wedding gift that I 
once saw on a friend's table. Under a glass cover 
on a velvet disk sat two little bears, one white and the 
other brown. The name of the one was Bear, and the 
name of the other was Forbear. Some lines in front 
expressed the sentiment, " Keep these two bears in 
your house, and you will be sure to have a bright and 
happy home." It might be well if every family had 
this little possession, and kept it, not in the parlor, but 
in the living-room of the house. And churches — 
might they not with great propriety have a place for 
these two bears? Jesus drove the sheep and the oxen 
out of the temple ; but I think he would be pleased to 
see these two bears in every place of worship. Bear 
and forbear, — do that, and you will do well. That is 
a talisman that will charm away contentions, secure 
you friends, and make you happy. The text says, 
" Bear ye one another's burdens." It means, rather, 
infirmities, failings, faults, — bear with these; tolerate 
one another's shortcomings. Luther says, "A Christian 
must have strong shoulders and stout legs, in order to 
bear the flesh, that is, the weakness of his brethren ; 



126 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



for they have vices that are troublesome and annoying. 
Therefore must love pass by and overlook and endure 
much. We must learn, since we can so easily endure 
and overlook our own sins and faults, many of which 
we daily commit, to bear also other people's sin." 
Another asks, "What is our whole religion but a 
burden-bearing? We have our own and also others' 
burden to bear. We are all on a journey; if one is 
likely to give way the other must refresh him ; if one 
is likely to fall, the other must help him up." Many 
years ago I met with a book of illustrated Scripture 
texts. On every page was a picture representing to 
the eye the thought and sentiment of the text. What 
impression do pictures make ! How suitably may 
they be employed to teach moral lessons ! I read on 
one of the pages, " Bear ye one another's burdens;" 
and there were two men struggling along under a pon- 
derous burden, one at one end and the other at the 
other. Thus they shared the common weight and 
helped each other on. So must it be with travellers on 
the highway of life. It is a fact that all have burdens, 
— burdens relating not only to faults of character but 
to all the conditions and experiences of life. We 
sometimes feel that more is put upon us than we can 
bear ; and we wonder why sin and sorrow, disappoint- 
ment and grief, should have such sway. We cannot 
disguise the fact that "the whole creation groaneth 
and travaileth in pain together until now." It matters 
not; the problem of evil will be solved by and by. 
Meanwhile we must bear and help others to bear these 
weights that press men down. Our burdens are not 
alike, but we can share and help and encourage and 



B URDEN-BEA RING. 



127 



comfort one another as we journey along. We are 
made sympathetic beings, and there is a strong depen- 
dence of one upon another. It is said that " misery 
loves company ; " so does joy. It is not our states 
but ourselves that cannot endure weeping or rejoicing 
alone. Solitary confinement is the worst form of pun- 
ishment. Men like to tell the story of their burdens. 
The prisoner who carries a ball and chain feels his to 
be several pounds lighter if he can see another encum- 
bered in the same way. 

So we have to-day an appeal to our common hu- 
manity. We must put our shoulder under the weight 
that presses our brother down. " Help ! help ! help ! " 
is the common cry, and we must respond as best we 
may. 

1. View this matter in respect to business and secu- 
lar concerns. What room for improvement in the 
spirit and methods of business ! Human selfishness 
exhibits itself perhaps in its worst forms in matters of 
trade. What desire to shove upon another the loss of 
a descending market, or to grasp from another the 
advantage of an upward scale ! Very properly is the 
gold room and the commercial exchange spoken of 
as the place where bulls and bears struggle for the 
mastery. Men become brutalized by their love of gain. 
Even in legitimate traffic there is little desire to take 
others' burdens ; the great wish is to get rid of one's 
own. Competition is said to be the life of trade ; and 
so if men can undersell others, and get their customers 
or cripple their business, they will. The man with 
small capital must look out for what are sometimes 
called " the great fishes ; " and if he succeeds, he must 



128 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



do it not because others helped him, but because he 
relied upon himself, held to fair-dealing, and fought 
his way through. Why cannot the more generous 
policy prevail, — live and let live, and all aim to help 
one another along? Why must a young man feel 
when he enters into business that he is surrounded 
not by friends who will encourage him, but by rivals 
who will supplant him if they can ? Enterprise is a 
grand thing, but must it necessarily take on the most 
selfish forms ? There are many ways in which those 
who engage in the various industries may seek one 
another's good, — in a generous recognition, in giving 
a fair field, in patronizing one another; by avoiding 
detraction, speaking a kind word, and recommending 
where one can ; by loaning credit where it can be 
done safely; by forbearance in a pressing time ; and by 
taking special pains to meet other people's claims. A 
few dollars passed around will pay a great many debts. 
Business operations and business men are like chil- 
dren's bricks arranged in a row; the first knocked down 
touches the other, and that the other, through the 
whole line. Business burdens are sometimes very 
severe. A helping hand might in some instances not 
only save property but save life. Alas, that any 
should take advantage of another's need to press un- 
just demands, to exact exorbitant interest, or to dis- 
possess by arbitrary measures of home and all ! 

2. The text relates to the family. " Bear ye one 
another's burdens " speaks to husbands and wives. 
Some wives seem to forget that Eve was given to 
Adam not to be a burden, but a helpmeet. Some 
wives are a burden, and do not help their husbands 



B URDEN-B EARING. 



129 



to bear their burdens at all ; they even increase the 
weight. Amusements and fashions make very exact- 
ing demands. There are husbands who are put to 
their wits' end to keep their business going, who are 
worried and tormented by maturing obligations, and 
are obliged to borrow, and crave delay, and make all 
sorts of shifts; and their wives are no more a help to 
them than their children. I think men err, whatever 
their occupation, in city or country, who do not reveal 
to their wives the real state of their business. A man 
generally does well when he takes his wife's advice; 
and if her advice is not worth much, her sympathy is. 
It is right, too, that she should know how things stand, 
that she may regulate her desires accordingly. It is 
foolish to say " I do not want my wife to be troubled 
with my burdens." That is one of the ends of mar- 
riage, — to halve our sorrows and double our joys. 
It strengthens love to know each other's thoughts, to 
have no secrets, and to be in each other's fullest con- 
fidence. A selfish wife does not wish to know her 
husband's troubles ; simply wishes to be petted, to have 
an unfailing exchequer, and to be gratified in every 
want and whim. A true wife puts her gentle shoulders 
under the heavy burden, and though she has but little 
strength, makes her husband strong. On the other 
hand, there are husbands who regard the wife's bur- 
dens as nothing. To conduct and manage a house, 
to see that the table is furnished, meals made ready, 
rooms kept tidy, company entertained, and that chil- 
dren are properly dressed, taught, and governed, may 
be a greater burden than to manage a factory, or to 
carry on the business of an office or a store. And 

9 



130 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



when sickness comes, the burden on the wife and 
mother is very great. The husband who can let his 
wife do all the watching, and sleep when his children 
are crying, is a very cruel man. I think the divine law 
of the household is, " Bear ye one another's burdens." 
The marriage yoke must not rest on one neck alone. 

3. The text suggests our duties to society. What 
opportunities for alleviating the pains and griefs of 
men ! It makes me weep to see that so many others 
weep. These tell-tale faces that meet us on the city 
streets, and wherever we turn, how sad they are ! 
There is no speech nor language, their voice is not 
heard ; but they speak in a way that melts the heart. 
Yonder is a case of disappointment. Bright hopes 
have been blasted there; there is a secret grief that 
never found utterance; there is an unknown sorrow 
that a stranger may not meddle with. Love perhaps 
once made that soul like a royal mansion ; light shone 
there, music echoed there, but now that soul is like a 
deserted dwelling. Perhaps there was a cruel trifling 
with affections, and pledged words that were not ful- 
filled. Perhaps death came and bore away a loved 
companion, and the soul is sorrowfully waiting the re- 
union above. How calm and sweet some faces seem, 
so full of significant expression, and where you can 
trace deep lines of suffering, and yet you know not 
what is the secret grief within. Some hearts are like 
a graveyard where hopes are buried, and death will 
be to it a resurrection day. Here again is a mother. 
How the tears fall ! It is a darkened home. There is 
an empty crib; the little playthings are put away; the 
little dresses are folded never to be worn again ; the lit- 



BURDEN-BEARING. 



131 



tie lock of hair, the little golden ringlet, or the sweet 
little picture brings a rain of tears. It is a mother 
who writes : — 

" As shipwrecked men at midnight 

Have oft been known to cling, 
With a silent prayer, in wild despair, 

To some frail floating thing, 
So I, in darkened moment, 

Clasp, with a voiceless prayer, 
While wandering wide on grief's deep tide, 

These locks of golden hair." 

Or it is yet a greater grief that weighs upon the 
soul. A thankless son or an erring daughter has 
gone out from the household, and the anguish of 
parents whose hearts are so rent none but themselves 
can know. When the storm rages and the winds howl, 
what thoughts of the absent lost one ! What memories 
of the innocent face of childhood ! What bitterness in 
looking back and contrasting then and now ! 

Then there is the more common burden of poverty. 
Hard is the poor man's lot; and when sickness comes 
it is yet more severe. There are many homes where 
the children cry for bread ; where the fire, when the 
winter storm is raging, goes out for want of fuel to 
replenish it, and there is scarcely clothing enough to 
hide one's nakedness. Again, the abodes of crime are 
numerous, where poverty and crime unite to produce 
misery. And then there are places of public charity, 
where poor humanity in various forms of need makes 
its appeal, — jails, prisons, almshouses, bridewells, 
penitentiaries, hospitals, asylums ; and there are 
various societies, associations, and " Homes " through 



132 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



which as channels we may reach the poor. So then 
with reference to humanity at large the command 
is, " Bear ye one another's burdens." We must 
weep with those that weep. A kind word, a sympa- 
thizing heart, may be all that is needed. We must 
care for the poor and try to help them. Says one : 
" Poverty is the load of some, and wealth is the load 
of others, — perhaps the greater load of the two. It 
may weigh thee down to perdition. Bear the load 
of thy neighbor's poverty, and let him bear with thee 
the load of thy wealth. Thou lightenest thy load by 
lightening his." We must give a helping hand also 
to the fallen. We must try to lift from him the 
weight of an evil habit that is crushing him to the 
earth. We must make his task easier and not heavier 
by giving him encouragement, and not spurning and 
pushing him with our foot. Oh, many are the ways 
in which we can help our fellow-man ! Be Christ our 
pattern, who bore, and taught, and healed, and whose 
whole life was a gift and sacrifice for a sinful and 
lost world ! 

4. We are taught something here in regard to 
Church relations. " Bear ye one another's burdens " 
in supporting the gospel and doing the work of the 
Church. We are told that when Moses sent men to 
spy out the land of Canaan, they bore back a cluster 
of the grapes of Eshcol, which was so large that they 
were obliged to support it on a staff between two men. 
It was only fair that the cluster should be in the 
middle, while the staff rested on the shoulders of 
the two men. I never saw a picture representing the 
weight as nearer to one than the other. That is the 



B URDEN-BEARING. 



133 



way Church weights should be borne. It is not right 
to shove the burden toward the other end. Let it hang 
where it weighs on one as much as another. Not 
that all are equally strong, and can bear and do alike ; 
but let the weight be relatively the same to all. It is 
the duty of some to give much, but it is not their 
duty to give all. A small sum for one may be as much 
as a large sum for another, but neither can be excused 
from giving. The simple command, to give is as 
binding on the poor as on the rich. The command is, 
" Let every one of you lay by him in store." It may 
be a very small amount, but that we are commanded 
to have ready. We need to give as a means of grace, 
if the gift does not count much in the grand total. 
Giving is the best test of piety, of faith, and love. 
It touches one in the tenderest spot; it shows how 
selfish or unselfish we are. The poor cannot afford 
to be without this help and gauge. It is not desira- 
ble with reference to the poor themselves that those 
who have means should do all the giving if they could 
and would. It certainly is not fair nor right. Nor do 
those who are reasonable demand that the poor shall 
give much, but simply their little, and that they shall 
all give. It is surprising how much the littles make 
when all are brought together. Nor should there be 
promises and engagements without earnest efforts at 
fulfilment. This is like setting out with a show of 
carrying one's full measure of a load, and then letting 
the whole weight fall on the shoulders of others with a 
tremendous thud. It frets and staggers more to be 
treated thus than to receive no aid at all. Nor should 
there be fault-finding and criticism, but an honest 



134 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



effort to carry each one's part. When I walk with 
a child I do not throw on him half the weight; I am 
sometimes content with letting him think that he is 
helping when I am carrying all, and when his little 
hand sometimes pulls down the weight. So in Church 
work there should be co-operation and mutual help. 
It is not right to leave all the activity to a few; to 
burrow up, and say when urged to make calls, or teach, 
or attend meetings, or do mission work, " That is not 
my way." Why should not you be out and at work 
as much as any? Is this the way you bear one 
another's burdens? If you have not health to be 
actively employed, then possibly you can labor in 
some other way. If you cannot visit the sick, you 
can furnish articles for others to carry. If you can- 
not teach in the Sunday school, you can contribute 
money to sustain the Sunday school. It is not an 
equalizing of burdens to let the teachers do the teach- 
ing, the officers bear the responsibility, and then ask 
those who come and toil to give most of the money 
requisite to run the school. Oh, when shall there be 
an honest fulfilment of this divine precept, " Bear ye 
one another's burdens," in all Church fellowship and 
Church work? It matters not how poor or unknown 
or overlooked any one is, there is a call for his gifts 
and services. Let little children, even, learn to give ; 
let them put their little hands to the rope that draws 
the gospel car; let them wave the palm branches, 
and shout hosannas, and welcome Jesus as He comes 
in triumph and enters the temple gates. We may 
say that we are disgusted with these constant ap- 
peals for aid. God has given you means to use in 



B UR DEN-BE A RING. 



135 



this way. And how will such language sound when 
you get to heaven? There are burdens in every 
church, and woe to the man who refuses to share 
them ! Necessities will always exist. Common hu- 
manity must be helped. You must die to escape the 
occasions and demands for sympathy and aid. If 
God has given you the unrighteous mammon, use it 
so that the friends you have made by it shall receive 
you into everlasting habitations. If we are going to 
live on the other side the river, we may as well send 
our treasures on before. Says Bishop Hall, " Ex- 
perience teaches me that what I leave behind I lose. 
I will carry with me by giving away that treasure 
which the worldling loses by keeping; and thus 
while his corpse shall carry nothing but his winding- 
sheet to his grave, I shall be richer under ground 
than I was above it." Another writes : — 

"Thieves may break in and bear away your gold ; 

The cruel flame may lay your mansions low ; 
Your dues the faithless debtor may withhold ; 

Your fields may not return the grain you sow ; 
A spendthrift steward at your cost may live ; 

Your ships may founder with their precious store ; 
But wealth bestowed is safe, — for what you give, 

And that alone, is yours forevermore." 

Ah, how the years flit by, and all our opportunities 
for doing and giving will soon be gone ! It is only a 
little strip of ground that we shall need by and by. 
A narrow house will be enough for us. The best 
legacy for children is a good education, a pure char- 
acter, and oftentimes an empty purse. Too many 
toil for heirs they know not whom. They lose golden 



136 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



opportunities; they let tears fall that they might 
stanch ; they rob themselves of highest sources of 
joy; they vex themselves in vain, and dying give 
occasion to say, " So ends another useless and wasted 
life." Xo poor man's tears fall on their coffin; no 
orphan's benedictions bless their memory; no widow's 
prayer commends their soul to God. 

Dear friends, let us learn this great lesson of bearing 
one another's burden. Let us sympathize with the 
sorrowing, extend a helping hand to the needy, be 
generous in giving, and do good to all. 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 



A painter told me that nobody could draw a tree without in 
some sort becoming a tree. I knew a draughtsman employed 
in a public survey who found that he could not sketch the rocks 
until their geological structure was first explained to him. 

Ralph Waldo Emerson. 



X. 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 

Then I came to them of the captivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt 
by the river of Chebar, and I sat where they sat, and remained 
there astonished among the?n seven days. — Ezekiel iii. 15. 

EZEKIEL, Daniel, and Jonah were the only- 
writing prophets of the Old Testament who 
lived and prophesied out of Palestine. All the other 
prophets lived and prophesied in that land. Jonah 
went to Nineveh and prophesied there. Ezekiel and 
Daniel lived at the time of the captivity, and were 
among the number deported by Nebuchadnezzar into 
Babylon. The scene of their prophecies therefore 
was in that country. Ezekiel prophesied in the former 
part of the captivity, Daniel in the latter. 

Ezekiel was a priest as well as a prophet. Called 
to cheer and comfort the pious captives and to warn 
and rebuke the unrepentant ones, he tells us of the 
wonderful circumstances of his call and commission. 
He was among the captives by the river Chebar in 
the land of the Chaldeans. There the heavens were 
opened and he saw visions of God. Overwhelmed 
by what he saw, he fell to the ground. A voice bade 
him rise, and he received a divine charge. Now, he 
writes : — 



I40 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

"Then the spirit took me up and I heard behind me a 
voice of a great rushing, saying, Blessed be the glory of the 
Lord from His place. I heard also the noise of the wings of 
the living creatures that touched one another, and the noise 
of the wheels over against them, and a noise of a great rush- 
ing. So the spirit lifted me up, and took me away, and I 
went in bitterness, in the heat of my spirit ; but the hand of 
the Lord was strong upon me. Then I came to them of the cap- 
tivity at Tel-abib, that dwelt by the river of Chebar, and I sat 
where they sat, and remained there astonished among them 
seven days." 

The river Chebar was a river of Mesopotamia empty- 
ing into the Euphrates. It was one of the rivers along 
whose banks the King of Babylon settled the Jewish 
exiles. It was one of the rivers therefore to which 
the exiles refer, and of which they sing in the One 
hundred and thirty-seventh Psalm. " By the rivers 
of Babylon there we sat down, yea, we wept when we 
remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the 
willows in the midst thereof." The reason why they 
were not allowed to live in the towns or cities of 
Babylon, but were located along the rivers' sides, may 
have been, that they might work the galleys on those 
rivers; or they may have been placed there to dig 
canals of irrigation or of drainage, to make the soil 
productive and the climate healthful. It is possible 
too that they preferred the river's side as a place 
most remote from the observation of others, and 
therefore most congenial to their captive and sorrow- 
ful condition. Tel-abib was a village on the banks of 
the Chebar where a colony of the captives dwelt. 
This must have been a different place and colony 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 141 



from that in which the prophet was at the time of 
seeing the visions and receiving his commission. He 
tells us he was lifted up and taken away from the spot 
where he was. He came to them of the captivity at 
Tel-abib. Now, you will observe — and this is what 
I wish you particularly to notice — that he says, " And 
I sat where they sat, and remained there astonished 
among them seven days." He sat where they sat; 
he entered into their state and became as one of them ; 
he made himself familiar with their thoughts, circum- 
stances, and condition ; and he took time for all this. 
He remained there among them seven days. As an 
effect of the vision, and from what he now saw and 
felt, he was overwhelmed. He remained there as- 
tonished among them seven days. Now, it was by 
this special preparation that God was fitting him to 
be a wise and able guide, watchman, and counsellor 
to His people. He was sent to Tel-abib, not as yet 
to give instruction, but to learn. The days of wait- 
ing were to furnish him with rich stores of experience, 
and to qualify him by what he should see, and hear, 
and feel, to discharge more intelligently, faithfully, and 
successfully the duties of his office. 

Now, from what is here recorded in the history of 
the prophet we derive the general lesson that it is 
necessary to the highest culture, personal experi- 
ence, influence, and usefulness, to sit where others sit; 
or, as the title of a popular book expresses it, — you 
must " Put Yourself in his Place." We have not 
learned life's lessons well if we have not learned to 
enter into the thought, feelings, and circumstances of 
the people around us. 



142 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



I. Let us look at this matter first in regard to 
sympathy. God has made us sympathetic beings. 
He has given us hearts to feel for others' woes and 
tears of sympathy to shed. There is, moreover, the 
command, " Rejoice with them that do rejoice and 
weep with them that weep." But we are poorly 
qualified to enter into others' feelings until we have 
entered into their state. We must sit where they sit, 
and then we shall know how they feel. How the 
eye dilates and the heart kindles toward the one who, 
taking us by the hand, can say, " My brother, I have 
been where you are ; I know how you feel." Job's 
three friends came as sympathizers and sat down 
with him on the ground. Seven days and seven 
nights they tarried, and none spoke a word unto him, 
for they saw that his grief was very great. At length 
breaking the silence they tried to say something ; but 
to their words he replied, "Miserable comforters are 
ye all." If they had kept still they might have com- 
forted him; but their words evidenced that they 
knew nothing of his state. Nothing is clearer than 
that to sympathize with mourners we must become 
mourners ourselves. We must know the darkness of 
a home where the shadows of death have fallen ; or 
sit in the mourners' seats, with the silent form near us 
of parent, companion, or child, before we can know 
how they feel to whom such sorrows are sent So is 
it with reference to all the fears and anxieties, the 
trials and distresses, the pains and needs and griefs 
of men. Sick beds and crushed hearts and dying 
hopes can only be appreciated by those who have felt 
the fever burn, or seen their fondest hopes decay, 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT 



143 



or cried over broken idols. Usually there is enough 
of sadness in each one's lot to key him up to this 
responsive feeling. The duty is, that being kindred 
in heart we shall exercise this grace of sympathy. 
If we are like magnetic instruments, we must join the 
wires and speak the words of kindness. It is not 
enough to say, " Be ye warmed and filled." It may 
be our duty to visit the homes of the poor, — to sit 
literally where they sit. Jesus says He will say to 
His faithful ones, " I was sick and ye visited Me : I 
was in prison and ye came unto Me ; " and an apostle 
writes, " Pure religion and undefiled before God and 
the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows 
in their affliction." Noble illustrations there are of 
this kind of piety. John Howard, Margaret Prior, 
Mrs. Fry, Florence Nightingale, and others like them 
literally went and sat where the sick or the degraded 
or the criminal poor sat or lay, and lifted them into a 
better life. 

2. The obligations of charity require that we 
should sit where others sit. Of fault-finding the 
world is full; comment and criticism are the order 
of the day. With reference to other people's con- 
duct or methods eyes are keen and tongues are sharp. 
The way of doing business, or of training children, 
or of wearing a garment ; choices in marriage, forms 
of speech, and indeed almost every movement, ex- 
pression, or act is subjected to humorous and de- 
preciating remarks. Even the pulpit does not escape. 
It is so easy to go home criticising the preacher 
rather than profiting by what he said. Now, this 
disposition to pass judgment upon others, this spirit 



144 



LIVIXG FOR THE MASTER. 



of criticism and of fault-finding, might be measura- 
bly if not totally overcome by putting ourselves in 
the place of others and knowing the thoughts, feel- 
ings, and circumstances of those whom we criticise. 
It has been suggested that the cure for the labor 
troubles is to be found in the application of the 
Golden Rule. Let the master change places with 
the sen-ant, the employer with the employee, and he 
may see that he has been too exacting. Let the hus- 
band change places with the wife, and he may find 
that her sphere has trials that he had not thought 
of. Let the one who is disposed to be severe toward 
a wrong-doer know all the circumstances of the act, 
the man's weakness, the strong temptations, the hurt- 
ful influences, — if he could himself be similarly en- 
vironed, rent by like passions and subjected to the 
same onslaught, it is probable that he would become 
more tender and forgiving. None but a reclaimed 
inebriate knows how to pity* the man who is strug- 
gling against his appetite and yet in some unguarded 
moment falls. People are sometimes more to be 
pitied than blamed. If we could know their real 
state we could pass a more intelligent sentence on 
them. If the weak nerves and peevish disposition 
of some try us, we must seek to put ourselves in 
their place, and out of their bodily weaknesses, suf- 
ferings, and infirmities rise into a patient, tender, and 
charitable frame. So with regard to all the positions 
men occupy. If we think we can do better, or are 
disposed to blame them for not doing better, let us 
in some sense take their place, sit where they sit, and 
we shall see that there is occasion for the direction: 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 1 45 

"Have compassion one of another; be pitiful, be 
courteous." 

3. Again, we must sit where others sit to be kept 
from envy and discontent. Where is the contented 
man? Where is the man who says, " I have enough"? 
Only Paul could say " I am full and abound ; " and he 
had not anything, only God, and grace, and a crown 
in heaven. Most men are asking for something dif- 
ferent, — better and more. The rich are not satisfied ; 
the poor wish to be rich. The man in the store cries 
out against the confinement of the place, his losses and 
worriments. The man in the field thinks heat and 
cold are hard to bear. The mechanic wants to be a 
merchant ; the merchant would like to be a professional 
man, and the professional man speaks of his as an 
unenviable life. It is noteworthy that most fathers 
advise their sons to follow some other calling than 
their own. How strange it is, — this dissatisfaction with 
our earthly lots ! But the explanation, perhaps, is that 
we do not know what other people's lots are. Nor 
could any better lesson of contentment be taught us, 
should Providence so ordain, than for all arts and pro- 
fessions to be temporarily abandoned and interchanged 
among men. Capital and labor should change places. 
The king should come down from his throne, the 
judge from his bench, the minister from his pulpit; 
the farmer should forsake his plough, the mechanic his 
tools, the merchant his traffic. The poor should be- 
come rich, and the rich should become poor. The 
subjects should become rulers, and the rulers become 
subjects. The occupants of mansions should ex- 
change these for cottages, and the occupants of cot- 

10 



146 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



tages exchange these for mansions; and thus all 
changing places should try one another's circum- 
stances for a while. Undoubtedly after such a trial 
all would be fully satisfied, and hasten back with glad- 
ness to their several spheres. It would now be seen 
that in looking at others we had looked only at what 
was pleasant in their circumstances, and had over- 
looked what was unpleasant. We had seen the crown, 
but not the thorns beneath piercing the head of him 
who wore it. While in looking at ourselves the reverse 
was true ; we felt the thorns, but took little note of the 
jewelled ornament. Nor would it matter what seat we 
should occupy in this general exchange, — that of one 
above us or one beneath us; undoubtedly in either 
case we would return to our own place pleased that 
Providence appoints our lot, and thankful for the com- 
forts and mercies now seen to be connected with it. 

4. Yet again, it is necessary to sit where others sit 
with reference to theological and other discussions. A 
vast amount of all the controversy that has been waged 
in the world has grown out of misapprehensions. 
Terms have been understood differently; definitions 
have not been framed with proper precision; lan- 
guage has been used loosely; doctrines have been 
stated vaguely; and hence in some cases a great war 
of words has arisen when there was almost nothing 
out of which it could arise. Now, what is needed in 
all cases of controversy is to bring the parties to look 
at truth from the same point of view. Then we might 
hope, in many instances, that a reconciliation would 
be effected, and that all bitterness of language and 
spirit would be done away. The story of the two 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 



147 



knights is familiar, who, coming to a fallen knight, 
disputed concerning the shield which he had carried. 
One insisted that it was made of gold ; the other was 
sure that it was made of an inferior metal. The con- 
test became violent, but at length, wearied in the strife, 
they found by changing sides that they were both 
right. So is it often in the controversies among men. 
I do not say that the distinction between truth and 
error is arbitrary, but that often those who hold the 
truth fall out from a simple misunderstanding of one 
another's views, and that in such cases, if they can 
be brought to change places or occupy the same 
position, it would result in their seeing that they per- 
fectly agreed. A story is told of Dr. Chalmers, the 
eminent Scotch divine, and another well-known min- 
ister whom he happened to meet. Falling into a 
dispute on some point of theological doctrine, the 
discussion waxed warm, and was likely to be pro- 
tracted, when one of them said, " Have you seen a 
little book published at such a time and place, with 
such a title? In that book you will find just what I 
believe." "Why!" exclaimed the other, "I wrote 
that book. That is what I believe." Thus when they 
came to look at truth from the same standpoint 
they found that they held precisely alike. Nor can 
there be any doubt, in the case of those who hope- 
lessly differ, that if they would change seats, and look 
through each other's glasses, they would comprehend 
each other better, and perhaps see that the difference 
between them is less than it seemed. Let a professor 
in one school of theology change chairs with a pro- 
fessor in another school of theology, sit each in the 



148 



LIVIXG FOR THE MASTER. 



other's place and look at truth out of each other's 
eyes, and it is possible that they might both have 
their views modified, and be benefited by the ex- 
change. The more tolerant spirit that prevails among 
different bodies of believers at the present time is due 
in part to a better understanding of one another's 
views. Let it be granted that there are points of differ- 
ence of vital importance, yet is it not evident that per- 
sons will be far more likely to discuss these fairly and 
arrive at correct conclusions when they are willing to 
leave their own position, put aside preferences and preju- 
dices, and look at truth from the same point of view? 
And is it not so with regard to all discussions of whatever 
nature, and to whatever subject they may pertain ? Says 
a distinguished divine : "The Church is rent asunder 
and disordered by words. Each sect has a certain set 
of phrases, a traditional language, a style of represen- 
tation which amounts to a dialect by itself, and which 
often appears to men of a different denomination and 
training either disgusting, irreverent, extravagant, or 
perhaps profanely cold. Dialogue will sometimes cast 
it off. If we cannot get near enough to each other 
and listen forbearingly enough to each other to lay 
hold of actual meanings and interpretations, it appears 
to us we have been born in the wrong age, or at any 
rate need to be born again." 

A gratifying improvement in the spirit and style of 
argumentation in theology has been manifest of late. 
Language is used with more precision. Doctrines are 
more clearly held and better understood. There is 
less fear and intolerance of another's views. There 
is more honesty and clearness in debate. On the 



SITTING WHERE OTHERS SIT. 



149 



mists of controversy the light is rising; and may 
we not hope for the full effulgence when with diversity 
in unity all the branches of the Church of Christ shall 
become one, — one as He prayed it might become? 
and so shall be fulfilled the prophecy : " Thy watch- 
men shall lift up the voice, with the voice together 
shall they sing; for they shall see eye to eye when the 
Lord shall bring again Zion." 

I have spoken of sitting where others sit, with ref- 
erence to sympathy, that we may enter into others' 
griefs ; with reference to charity, that we may be kind 
and forgiving; with reference to contentment, that we 
may not envy another's place or lot ; with reference to 
controversy, that we may discuss questions fairly, and 
see as nearly as possible alike. 

5. I observe finally and briefly that we must sit 
where others sit to understand the spiritual needs and 
perils of men, and to be moved to proper exertion for 
them. We must place ourselves in the condition of 
lost men, and then, roused by the consciousness of 
their danger, do what we can to save them. It was 
somewhat thus that Jesus viewed our race. He came 
and sat where we sat; He took our nature that He 
might be a faithful and merciful high priest; and 
more than that, He even took our place, so that the 
stripes designed for us fell upon Him. With such 
a wondrous instance of going out of Himself for the 
sake of others, let us who profess His name try to 
exhibit a larger measure of His spirit, and to be more 
like Him in love and effort for the souls of men. 

In general, let the views presented awaken in us a 
large-hearted piety, — a piety that shall draw us out 



150 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

of ourselves toward others ; that shall lead us in many- 
points of view to sit where they sit, and feel and act 
toward them accordingly. The Latin motto we do 
well to heed: "In essentials unity, in non-essentials 
liberty, in all things charity." The Golden Rule is still 
better : " Whatsoever ye would that men should do to 
you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and 
the prophets." 



\ 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 



I held it truth, with him who sings 
To one clear harp in divers tones, 
That men may rise on stepping-stones 

Of their dead selves to higher things. 

But who shall so forecast the years, 
And find in loss a gain to match ? 
Or reach a hand through time to catch 

The far-off interest of tears ? 

Alfred Tennyson. 



XI. 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 
My tears have been my meat day and night. — Psalm xlii. 3. 

I NEVER shall forget a call that I made upon a 
poor German woman in the time of the war. Her 
son, — a member of my Church and Sabbath School, 
— a noble, Christian young man, had enlisted with 
others in defence of the Nation's cause. I remember 
the night he called upon me, looking so elegant in his 
new uniform, to bid me " good-by." A large num- 
ber went from that congregation, and many of them 
never came back. This young man was one. He fell 
in the slaughter of Chancellorsville. After the sad 
tidings came, I went to see his poor stricken mother. 
Those were tearful times ; and she said to me, in her 
simple, broken English, " Oh, sir, I cry more tears 
since I came to America than the big ocean I sail 
over." 

David cried about as much, and his language is 
almost as extravagant. He says, "Tears have been 
my meat day and night," as if he had fed on them, or 
they were as constant as his daily meals. I think we 
would hardly be willing to take David's crown, his 
riches, and his greatness, if we must take David's tears. 
His family experience was enough to have killed him ; 



154 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



he was in constant danger from enemies; he was 
driven from his throne by intrigue and usurpation; 
his own sins brought him many troubles, and his life 
was embittered in many ways. We wonder not that 
he uses this strong language, or that we should hear 
him saying in another place, " I am weary with my ; 
groaning; all the night make I my bed to swim; I [ 
water my couch with my tears." 

It would seem as if we received in this world an 
inheritance of tears ; sorrow is the common lot. It is 
said with some truth, " Man was made to mourn ; " 
and frequently is the world spoken of as "a vale of 
tears." We are like those who journey through some 
valley where cold, bleak walls of rock obscure the 
light, sombre forests shut us in, and heavy damps 
settle around us. Up on the mountain-top the light 
is shining and we catch occasional glimpses of it as 
we pass along. Not that life is all sad — far from it; 
but that tears are common to every eye. It is said 
that man is the only animal that can weep. Tears are 
peculiar to soul-being. The depths of feeling crys- 
tallize in tears. You ask the philosopher what is a 
tear, and he tells you it is a little limpid fluid, a drop 
in size, and of a saltish taste, that oozes from the 
lachrymal gland. But it is more than that. It has a 
value greater than pearl, gem, or diamond. It speaks 
of a soul made in God's image; it tells of an inner 
fountain, and of an ocean of thought and feeling 
deeper than human sounding. It comes from the 
depths of being, and it proclaims a tenderness which 
none but beings made in the image of God can know. 
There is a sacredness in tears, and a power in tears 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 



155 



which the strongest cannot withstand. Tears have 
been called woman's weapon. Poetry has made much 
of tears. One of Shakspeare's characters is repre- 
sented as saying, — 

" The pretty and sweet manner of it forced 
Those waters from me which I would have stopped ; 
But I had not so much of man in me, 
But all my mother came into mine eyes, 
And gave me up to tears." 

Painting has found subject in and paid honor to tears. 
The scene of Moses in the bulrushes exhibits a cherub 
form, on its cheek a tear ; we read, " And behold the 
babe wept." The Magdalen is presented as looking 
imploringly on the forgiving Saviour, the tear on that 
sad face its most striking feature, while it proclaims 
the state of the heart within. You remember Jesus 
said to Simon, "Thou gavest Me no water for My feet, 
but this woman hath washed My feet with tears." 

There are some to whom tears come more easily 
than to others. I think of a well-known minister who 
in a public meeting said, " I do not often weep, but I 
sometimes cry down here," laying his hand upon his 
heart. Heart-weeping may evidence a deeper grief 
than where the sorrow breaks forth from the eyes. 
Where the agony is intense it makes a heat that dries 
up the fount of tears. We sometimes wish for our 
friends that they might weep, lest reason reel under 
the strain. Tears are Nature's balm; the heart is 
relieved when it can dissolve itself in tears. 

Tears move others, yet mock tears disgust. The 
minister who weeps much in the pulpit may have the 



156 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



advantage at first, but his people soon come to dis- 
tinguish between an instant ebullition and a sincere, 
constant, and deep feeling. One may plead very tear- 
fully, but sleep well at night ; another may seem less 
earnest, but carry his people on his heart and spend 
sleepless hours in groans and prayers for them. 
Heart-weeping is like still waters that run deep ; 
easy crying is like the shallow rivulet that makes a 
great noise. The sympathy and love that genuine 
tears express we all appreciate. Others' tears draw 
us to them, and their tears soothe and heal ; we like 
their tears more than their words. A silent comforter 
gets nearer to our hearts than a talkative friend. 

Tears may be classified. We may put them into 
five bottles. 

i. Tears of penitence. These are perhaps the sweet- 
est of all. I think it is Rowland Hill who said if it 
were possible for him to be affected with grief on 
reaching heaven it would be at parting from that 
sweet handmaid Repentance. Tears of penitence ! 
There is a luxury in tears, and especially in tears 
that spring from repentance. We often sing those 
words : — 

" I love in solitude to shed 

The penitential tear." 
" Let floods of penitential grief 

Burst forth from every eye." 

Such tears Peter shed. " He went out and wept bit- 
terly." It was the beginning of an unwonted love to 
the Saviour, and of a new conversion, — a love and 
conversion that culminated in a death like Christ's, save 
that Peter was crucified with his head downwards. 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 



157 



Such tears the Magdalen wept, who brought the 
alabaster box of ointment, and standing behind the 
Saviour began to wash His feet with tears, and did 
wipe them with the hairs of her head. In approba- 
tion of her act Jesus said : " Her sins which are many 
are forgiven, for she loved much ; but to whom little 
is forgiven, the same loveth little." Such tears David 
shed when he wrote his penitential psalms. We are 
sorry that David should have sinned ; and yet his tear- 
ful, penitent utterances are those through which we 
love to pour out our own souls before God, and they 
are valued by us as among the most precious portions 
of God's Word. 

I pity the man who never shed penitential tears; 
who never felt himself a sinner, and never bent the 
knee in humility and contrition before God. How 
little such an one knows of himself ; what a poor 
appreciation of God's law, claims, and love, or of the 
sinfulness of sin ! And how little does he know of 
that higher love and devotion, as well as the peace 
and joy that spring up in the soul in connection with 
a sense of pardoned sin ! You who are parents have 
seen your child stand out in disobedience till at length 
subdued by kind but persistent punishment he has 
run sobbing into your arms obedient and penitent, 
and clasping you in his arms and pressing his little 
face to yours, has seemed to say, " I never loved you 
so much before." This is the joy of pardoned sin. 
Repentance is a duty; our stout heart rebels against 
it; and yet God has connected a special sweetness 
with it that the soul never knows until it reaches this 
point. Try it, tearless man. Get down upon your 



158 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



knees with the Fifty-first Psalm before you and breathe 
out those confessions sincerely as your own, and you 
will find a pleasure deepening and rising in your 
heart as your tears rain. It is not weakness to weep 
over sin; it is ennobling, manlike, exalting. Alas, 
for the tearless eyes ! How is the withered soul 
seen in them ! But when God's spirit moves upon 
a people and a revival of religion comes, it is like a 
refreshing rain. What a Bochim does the Church 
become, and how do tearful eyes glisten through 
the congregation ! Oh, for tears shed by men waked 
up to thoughtfulness of their condition and contrite 
before God, and shed by Christians over broken vows 
and neglected opportunities ! Holy Spirit, come, give 
these penitential tears ; melt hard hearts, and let floods 
of contrition, tenderness, and love burst forth from 
every eye ! 

2. Next, there are tears of sorrow. Jesus never shed 
any tears of repentance ; He had no sins to repent of. 
But " He was a man of sorrows and acquainted with 
grief." He often wept. He wept at the grave of 
Lazarus; He wept over Jerusalem; He was moved 
with compassion when He saw the multitude that 
were as sheep having no shepherd. Jesus' tears were 
tears of sorrow, not of repentance. There are vast 
numbers of human beings who never shed any tears 
of repentance; but where is the man who has not 
shed tears of sorrow. If the sorrow is not our own 
we weep for others' griefs. Human hearts are made 
to ache in various ways, and the deep well of feeling 
overflows at the eyes. Alas, what mysteries surround 
us ! and the darkest of all things is sin. " The whole 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 



159 



creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until 
now." After a while we shall understand, and the 
redemption will come ; but oh, these tears ! The 
voice may be addressed to all the sons and daughters 
of humanity as they stand at the grave of their with- 
■ ered hopes, such as the angels addressed to Mary at 
the Saviour's tomb, "Woman, why weepest thou?" 
Pass the question around, " Why weepest thou?" 
" Why these tears?" and you will hear from one and 
another of children gone, of a husband taken, of 
friendships broken, of the loss of property, of hard 
struggles, and bitter fates, and sad experiences of 
woe. The wail of Ramah comes down to us. The 
tears of Hagar yet flow. David crying for his child, 
and prostrating himself on the ground, refusing rest 
and food, or lifting his mournful wail for Absalom, is 
a type of the race. Could all the tears be gathered 
they would make an ocean too broad and deep for 
measurement and sounding. There are tears of dis- 
tress, cries of orphanage, wails from cities scourged 
by pestilence, agonies of the battlefield, lamentations 
over loved and lifeless forms, griefs for children that 
have gone astray, anguish for friendships that have 
become blighted and broken, sorrow for riches con- 
sumed by fire or swallowed by the sea, — grief and 
loss and bitterness everywhere. You can no more 
escape your measure than you can go through the 
world and not breathe its air. Complexion, clime, 
and tongue make no difference. Every country, 
Pagan or Christian, has its silent sleeping-places 
where the dead are gathered. Every face, bronzed or 
pallid, is washed all too often with tears of woe. 



160 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

3. But let us turn to the third class and remember 
that there are also tears of joy, — blessed tears, the 
dashing over of a heart whose emotions of gladness 
cannot be pent. These are the emotions when aliena- 
tions are restored, and Jacob and Esau fall into each 
other's arms; when Joseph welcomes his brethren, or 
the father receives the returning prodigal. These are 
the emotions when long-absent friends are with us 
again, or those whom we had counted as dead knock 
like Peter at the gate. These are the emotions when 
some good fortune happens, and we learn that we 
have won a victory or taken a prize. Mrs. Browning 
writes of Queen Victoria, — 

" The maiden wept; 
She wept to wear a crown ! " 

These are the emotions when a soul has first revealed 
to it a sense of pardoned sin, and of instatement in the 
Divine favor. These are the emotions when a church 
comes back from its captivity and engages in rebuild- 
ing the walls of the spiritual Jerusalem. In the bond- 
age state we hang our harps on the willows and have 
no song; but when the Lord turns the captivity of 
Zion we are like them that dream ; then is our mouth 
filled with laughter and our tongue with singing. 
Yes, yes ! " They that sow in tears shall reap in 
joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing pre- 
cious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing 
bringing his sheaves with him." These are the emo- 
tions that accompany the outpouring of the Spirit and 
the revival of God's work. The Psalmist prayed : 
" Restore unto me the joy of Thy salvation and uphold 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. l6l 

me with Thy free Spirit." " Wilt Thou not revive us 
again, that Thy people may rejoice in Thee?" No 
joy is so great, no tears are so gladsome, as when souls, 
stubborn, sinful, lost, are brought into the grace, lib- 
erty, and inheritance of the sons of God. If the 
angels ever weep, it would seem that it must be from 
the joy which we are told they feel over the sinner 
that repenteth. May God start tears of penitence 
here that by His almighty grace shall be rainbowed 
into tears of joy ! 

4. There are duties connected with tears. Let us 
have tears; let us not suppress them. Weep, dear 
friends, for yourselves; weep over your sins. Look 
into the mirror of God's Word till your deformity 
impresses you ; look at your bleeding, dying Saviour 
till His love melts you. Did Jesus weep? He wept 
for you. 

" He wept that we might weep. 
Each sin demands a tear." 

Do doubts possess you, come with the father who, 
having brought his son for healing to Jesus, "cried 
out and said with tears, Lord, I believe ; help Thou 
mine unbelief." Have you no tears when you think 
of your need and of Jesus' love? And has not the 
time come for the priests, the ministers of the Lord, 
to weep between the porch and the altar, and for the 
people to assemble and sanctify themselves, and with 
tears to seek pardon for backslidings, the return of 
the Spirit, and the revival of His work? Oh that the 
fountains of the great deep might be broken up, and 
a rain descend and a tide arise that shall lift stranded 
souls up from their helpless state and float them out 

11 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



upon a sea of love ! We should weep not only for 
our own sins, but also for the sins of others. 

" Did Christ o'er sinners weep, 
And shall our cheeks be dry ? " 

If we know the joy of forgiveness ourselves, we may 
still weep for others who know not this joy. David's 
grief was not all personal. " Rivers of water," he said, 
" run down mine eyes because they keep not Thy law." 
Is it not your desire to see others saved? Have you 
no tears for friends and kindred who are yet out of 
Christ? Do you believe what you profess to believe, 
and yet do you not weep ? Recall the weeping Jere- 
miah ; hear Paul saying, " I ceased not to warn every 
one night and day with tears." Is it not this spirit 
that we lack? If the tear were oftener in our eyes, 
would not our scholars, children, friends believe what 
we tell them? 

5. Again, we must shed tears of sympathy. "Re- 
joice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them 
that weep." Blessed charity that unites all hearts in 
one ! And so we sing, — 

" We share our mutual woes, 
Our mutual burdens bear ; 
And often for each other flows 
The sympathizing tear." 

And now what shall we do with all our tears, — 
these various kinds of tears, — that are given us in our 
present mortal state to shed? Bring them to God; 
lift the Psalmist's prayer, " Put Thou my tears into 
Thy bottle ; " pour them from our five bottles into 



THE MINISTRY OF TEARS. 



163 



His one. How beautiful the thought that God treas- 
ures up our tears ! He sees and knows our griefs, 
and He will not let us shed one tear too much ; and 
for all our tears He will yet give us a recompense of 
joy. " Blessed are the men who passing through the 
valley of Baca make it a well; the rain also filleth 
the pools." That is, Blessed are they who passing 
through this vale of tears turn the springs of sorrow 
into fountains of delight; whose very rain of tears 
fills the heart-pools with blessings. Give your tears 
to God, and this valley of Baca shall become a 
well to you. Hark! from the mercy-seat a voice is 
calling, — 

" Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish ; 
Earth has no sorrow that Heaven cannot heal." 

And is it not a blessed thought that we shall by 
and by be where no tears fall? Oh, joyful words: 
" They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more ; 
neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat. 
For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne 
shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living 
fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all 
tears from their eyes." Let us bear the griefs, then, 
in the near anticipation of those living fountains and 
those tear-wiped eyes. At a meeting of the Evangeli- 
cal Alliance in New York City a few years ago there 
were missionaries present from Syria, Turkey, Persia, 
Greece, South Africa, India, Siam, British Burmah, 
China, and Japan. At the close of the exercises the 
congregation joined in singing "All hail the power of 
Jesus' name ; " and when they reached the last verse all 



1 64 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

sung — missionaries and people — in the several lan- 
guages represented there. It was the same tune and 
the same theme ; the same harmonies were sung ; the 
same Jesus was praised; but in so many different 
tongues. It made me think that we are verging upon 
that time when it shall be said, " One song employs all 
nations," and it reminded me of that glorious anthem 
which the universal choir are singing, and shall sing 
yet more generally and fervently when all the kin- 
dreds and tribes and nations are gathered in around 
the throne of God in heaven. Let us hope that we 
shall be there; believing in Christ we shall be, hav- 
ing exchanged tears and sighing for an unclouded 
sky and the everlasting song. 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 



Who is there that measures wisdom by simplicity, strength 
by suffering, dignity by lowliness ? Who is there that counts 
it first to be last, something to be nothing, and reckons himself 
to be of great command in that he is a servant? Yet God, 
when He meant to subdue the world and hell at once, part of 
that to salvation, and this wholly to perdition, made choice of 
no other weapons or auxiliaries than these, whether to save or 
to destroy. It had been a small mastery to Him to have drawn 
out His legions into array, and flanked them with His thunder ; 
therefore He sent Foolishness to confute Wisdom, Weakness 
to bind Strength, Despisedness to vanquish Pride. And this is 
the great mystery of the Gospel. 

John Milton. 



XII. 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose hi?n five smooth 
stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag 
which he had, even in a scrip, and his sling was in his hand; 
and he drew near to the Philistine. — i Sam. xvii. 40. 

THIS is said of David, who was at this time a 
shepherd-lad. His occupation had given him 
boldness. He had conversed with Nature in all her 
moods. He knew the tempest, and he had counted 
the stars. Nor did he fear animate foes. Lion and 
bear he had encountered. When a lamb was taken 
out of the flock, he pursued, delivered the lamb, and 
slew the lion and the bear. He is a brave young 
man ready to do and to dare. It is not empty boast- 
ing when he says, " This uncircumcised Philistine shall 
be as one of them," — that is, as the lion or the bear. 

Palestine gets its name from Philistine; one is a 
precious word, the other is a hated name. The 
Philistines were a powerful people that occupied a 
portion of the land of Canaan. They were not ex- 
terminated with the other nations, but preserved their 
independence from the time of Joshua down through 
the reign of the Judges, to the time of David. They 
were at times partially subdued, but were hundreds of 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



years a terror and distress to Israel. Now the time 
has come for the defeat of these enemies. It is not 
to be by the dashing of great armies and the slaugh- 
ter of many thousands. It is to be by a single- 
handed contest between a boy and a giant. 

The armies assemble at Sho-choh in the south of 
Judah. Now we have our first view of the giant of 
Gath. He is nine feet and a half tall. He has a 
helmet of brass on his head, a target or shield of 
brass in front between his shoulders, greaves of brass 
upon his legs, and is armed with a coat of mail. 
The staff of his spear is like a weaver's beam, the 
head of it weighing six hundred shekels of iron. The 
whole weight of his armor is supposed to have been 
not less than two hundred and seventy-two pounds. 
For forty days did Goliath present himself between 
the two armies and challenge the Israelites to send 
a man to fight with him. " When Saul and all Israel 
heard the words of the Philistine they were dismayed 
and greatly afraid." 

Now David comes upon the scene. An errand brings 
him into the camp just as the two armies are about to 
join battle. David's heart moves him, or God moves 
him, to undertake the contest with the giant. Word 
is brought to Saul and he is disposed to let him try. 
Saul puts on him his own armor; David assays to go, 
but he cannot stir. Now he tries his own method ; it 
is that of the sling and the pebbles from the brook. 
Probably as a boy he had often amused himself with 
the sling and had become an expert marksman. 
He little knew that even in his play he was fitting for 
service and renown. We are to remember that before 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 



169 



the invention of fire-arms the sling was much used 
in war. It is said of the Benjamites, " Among all this 
people there were seven hundred chosen men left- 
handed ; every one could sling stones at a hair- 
breadth, and not miss." David has such confidence 
in the accuracy of his aim, that he prefers his sling to 
steel armor. You see the ruddy-faced young man 
selecting the smooth stones and then in simple shep- 
herd's garb going out to meet the Philistine. " And 
David put his hand in his bag and took thence a 
stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his 
forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead ; and 
he fell upon his face to the earth." Now seizing 
the giant's sword David cut off his head and brought 
it as a trophy to Jerusalem. The Philistines seeing 
their champion slain, fled in confusion, and were 
many of them overtaken and put to death, and were 
now reduced to the condition of a conquered people. 

Such is the history ; let us now listen to some 
lessons which these pebbles from the brook teach. 

A passing thought is that that was a land of pebbly 
brooks, a good deal like our own New England. Had 
David sought his missiles along some of the sluggish 
streams of our West he would have searched in vain. 
His was a country of rock and mountain. Jesus was 
born in Bethlehem, in the " hill country" of Judea, and 
in the same city David was born a thousand years be- 
fore. Prairies furnish no rocks to be disintegrated, and 
have no mountain streams. Especially a flat country 
is not thought to be productive of hardy characters. 
Western enterprise has to borrow its sterling men from 
the rocky slopes of the East. Plains seem to enfeeble, 



170 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



to slacken hand and will. The Bible speaks grandly of 
mountains; it has no commendable word for plains. 
Can it be that Sodom's immorality and ruin had any- 
thing to do with its being in a plain? The sight of 
the youthful David resorting to the brook recalls, I 
doubt not, to some of you scenes of your childhood, — 
the brook along which your feet once wandered, or 
where you so delightedly dropped hook and line. 
These boyhood memories are precious, but there is a 
crystal river to which we are coming ; on its banks the 
tree of life is growing, and there a home awaits us of 
endless happiness if we are but serving David's God. 

Further, we read of David that he " chose him five 
smooth stones out of the brook." He did not take the 
first he came to ; he looked around and made a 
selection. He could not use the jagged and angular 
stones ; he must have smooth stones, — stones that the 
sling could hurl and carry to their mark. He " chose " 
smooth stones; he had an eye to fitness, adaptation, 
use. So we learn that means must be adapted to ends. 
Every boy knows that if the stone be too large or 
irregular he can do nothing with it ; it is the smooth 
thin stone that cuts the air or skims the water. Yet 
there is much blundering in the use of moral means. 
Reason should come in to make a choice; the choice 
should be a good one ; the object or way should be 
best to gain the end. I cannot discharge my con- 
science because I hurl a stone ; was the stone a chosen 
and a smooth one? It is not enough to say " I have 
done it; " how did I do it? For instance, the minis- 
ter must study to say the right things ; saying is not 
enough. The Sabbath-school teacher must come 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 



171 



before his class with fitting words. Parents must 
adapt themselves to the disposition and wants of 
their children. Christians must be very discreet in 
their treatment of those around them. It is a good 
thing to be zealous, but you should stop long enough 
to pick up the smooth stones, or you will hurl them 
in vain. I once came upon a lady in the doorway 
of a church who was holding a young man there 
while the congregation were pouring out around him, 
and she was trying to impress him with the truth 
that he had heard and urging him to be a Christian. 
I thought it was a miscalculation of effort. It was 
hardly the place to stop a young man ; if she could 
have seen him privately, or drawn him aside, it would 
have been better. I saw in his effort to be polite, and 
in his look of displeasure at being halted there, that 
her words fell short of the mark. I called once on a 
dying man, and his wife showing me into the sick- 
room, said in a peevish way about this : " Now you 
have got him, give it to him; he needs talking to," 
and then left me. What could I say after that? Let 
us see that the missiles we use for Christ are chosen 
ones, — smooth stones from the brook, fit, suitable, 
right. 

It is evident again that the man does best who fights 
with his own weapons. Saul was clothing David in 
his own armor; and David was willing to try it on, 
but he could not go. Then he tried his own method, 
and though a very simple one it was a success. For 
him a simple sling was better than cuirass and sword. 
It is a common saying when one person tries to put 
himself into another's methods, " It is David in Saul's 



172 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



armor." Every one succeeds best who acts out him- 
self; who uses his own powers and acts in his own 
way. Men may demand that you shall be like some- 
body else, or do as another does ; but if you give up 
your individuality you will go wrong, and be a failure 
sure. God has purposely made men unlike; He seeks 
unity in diversity; we supplement one another. Be- 
sides, with shining qualities there may be great defi- 
ciencies; if you take the excellences you must take 
the faults. It is better to let every one be himself and 
do the best in his own line. David had sense enough 
to know that he could do nothing in Saul's armor. It 
is related of Mr. Gough that he was to speak in a staid 
New England town at the time of an ecclesiastical 
meeting, and was asked to guard against being so 
dramatic as he was wont to be in his manner. In the 
morning he tried, held his chin stiff, kept his arms 
down, though occasionally in spite of himself his 
hands would come up ; but it was a painful effort, 
and for him a complete failure. He was David in 
Saul's armor. In the afternoon they let him cast off 
the trammels and have his own way, and now it was a 
complete success. You covet, perhaps, others' gifts 
or place, and think if you were they you could do 
more. God only asks you to do what you can with 
your gifts and place, with your opportunities and cir- 
cumstances. With your simple sling you can fight 
better than in the king's armor. Perhaps you do not 
wish to fight at all ; you plead want of means or want 
of opportunity as an excuse for not doing; you have 
but few talents; well, then, try the pebbles from the 
brook. 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 



173 



Note again, the union of Divine and human agency. 
It was not David alone. It was not the sling, the 
stone, the arm of David. God used these feeble 
means. David with God using him was stronger 
than all the army of Israel or all the army of the 
Philistines. David relied not on his own knowledge 
of the sling or the strength of his arm, but on God. 
He said, " The Lord that delivered me out of the paw 
of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He will 
deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." He 
also said, " I come to thee in the name of the Lord 
of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou 
hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver thee into 
mine hand." Oh, how strong it makes a man when 
he feels that he is backed by Omnipotence, that 
God is in him and God is for him, and he is but the 
instrument in God's hand. If we can only feel that 
we are doing God's work we need not fear devil or 
man. We admire the youthful David, because he 
gave God the glory, and because his heart was so 
strong. Had David trusted in himself, the giant would 
have destroyed him. Now the feeling that David had 
when he went forth with simple sling and stone is that 
which we are to carry with us through the whole 
march and conflict of life. " When I am weak, then 
am I strong." We must trust in God, and then do the 
best we can. God will use our weakness, and He will 
permit us to employ His strength. Yonder may be 
the giant, and back of him the serried hosts of the 
Philistines ; we may have no sword, no shield, no 
armor; but, God helping us, with simple sling and 
stone we will lay the giant low, and rout and destroy 



174 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



the foe. How is it that we have not more faith in 
God ; and that sight of giants and difficulties and 
perils fills us with such alarm? You remember when 
Israel became so distrustful, and thought they must 
go down into Egypt and get horses and chariots, God 
rebuked them, saying, " Woe to them that go down 
to Egypt for help ; and stay on horses, and trust in 
chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen 
because they are very strong; but they look not unto 
the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord. Now 
the Egyptians are men and not God; and their horses 
flesh and not spirit. When the Lord shall stretch out 
His hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that 
is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail to- 
gether." Thus it is with human resorts; and the 
example of David should teach us to put our trust 
in God. 

There is suggested, again, the greatness of little 
things. Visit the forts and arsenals and the iron-clad 
vessels in a time of war. The battle-axes, the swords 
and rifles, and especially the monster guns, speak of 
force proportioned to the results required. But who 
would think of hanging up in a nation's armory a bit 
of leather with five pebbles from the brook? Yet the 
Israelites could have possessed nothing of grander 
historic interest. We smile when we look at the im- 
plement; we are amazed when we look at the result. 
And so ever, God has " chosen the weak things of the 
world to confound the things which are mighty; . . . 
yea, and things which are not to bring to nought 
things that are." The world is ever seeing that things 
which we call trifles may be big with import. David 



PEBBLES FROM THE BROOK. 



175 



himself was but a stripling, and the sling in his hand 
was of no account ; but Goliath falls, the foe is routed, 
and women with songs and dances, throughout the 
cities of Judah, are singing David's praise. Thus 
little things become important factors in the unfolding 
of individual life and of public destiny. We learn, 
then, not to despise small things; we learn not to 
weigh things by their looks ; we learn to wait till we 
can compute events and circumstances in the long 
stretches of time. We see that little things are not 
trivial, but enter into and make up much of our per- 
sonal and related life. A little thing may do much 
harm, and a little thing may do much good. A spark 
may kindle a fire, and a little kind word shall never die. 
In eternity we shall be rewarded not so much for the 
large sums we have given or the great things we have 
done, as for the smile we have bestowed on childhood 
or the joy we have imparted to some aching heart. 
A sweet flower is a little thing, but it may make a 
whole house glad. So one kind word or benignant 
look may bring a delight that shall linger in the 
memory and shed its cheer and fragrance through 
the life. 

We learn finally that the triumphing of the wicked is 
short. Goliath was a giant, powerful and safely clad ; 
but in his pride and presumption, or forgetfulness, he 
neglected to draw down the beaver, or part of his hel- 
met that covers the face. That was the only exposed 
spot, and to that Providence, more than the skill of 
David, directed the missile; the stone sank into the 
forehead of the giant, and he fell upon his face to 
the ground. So uncertain is life to those who think 



176 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



themselves best fortified. It needs but a small punc- 
ture to let life out and death in. We may think our- 
selves secure, but there is some joint in the harness 
through which death can penetrate. If we are fight- 
ing on the right side it does not matter when we fall ; 
but if we are proud and defiant and have God against 
us, speedy and terrible will be our fall. There are 
moments when the wicked seem to be most fortunate 
and successful. We look at them in their giant 
strength and mighty armor, and we do not see how 
they can be brought low. We see them powerful by 
wealth, or surrounded with courtiers, or elate with 
honors, and it does not seem possible that they can 
be made to fall; but an avenging fate pursues them, 
and lo ! by some unexpected stroke their power is 
broken, their friends desert them, and their fame and 
glory come to nought. Facts are ever confirming the 
statement, " The triumphing of the wicked is short." 
David himself learned not to envy the wicked. " Fret 
not thyself," he says, " because of evil-doers, neither 
be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For 
they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and 
wither as the green herb." 

Let us learn this lesson, and in this contest be- 
tween sin and holiness, between the Church and the 
Philistines, let us be on the side of David and the 
side of God, rather than with the giant of Gath and 
the powers of darkness, proud and defiant as they 
may be. 



THE SEA. 



Great Source of Being, Beauty, Light, and Love ! 
Creator ! Lord ! the waters worship Thee ! 
Ere Thy creative smile had sown the flowers, 
Ere the glad hills leap'd upward, or the earth, 
With swelling bosom, waited for her child ; 
Before eternal Love had lit the sun, 
Or Time had traced his dial-plate in stars, 
The joyful anthem of the Ocean flowed 

Mrs. Sarah J. Hale. 



XIII. 



THE SEA. 
And there was no more sea. — Rev. xxi. I. 

A NEWSPAPER correspondent, writing from 
across the ocean, says that the apostle's de- 
scription of heaven as not having any sea had always 
struck her unpleasantly. She loved to think of heaven 
as having a sea; it seemed necessary, as water in a 
landscape, to a perfect picture of the place ; heaven 
would not be complete if it were wanting in this grand 
element of beauty. But now that she had crossed 
the ocean she could sympathize with the apostle; 
she did not want any sea in heaven. She appreciated 
as never before the grandeur of the description that 
representing all things as new should add, "And there 
was no more sea." She had traversed the trackless 
waste; she had been borne high on its billows and 
gone down into its troughs ; she had been pitched and 
tossed and tumbled till every bone seemed broken ; 
she had suffered from that terrible yet inevitable mal- 
ady, sea-sickness ; she had undergone all the terrors of 
a storm at sea, had felt the vessel thump and quiver, 
and feared lest death was now to overtake her, and she 
did not feel that she ever wanted to look upon the sea 
again ; she was glad to think of heaven as a place where 
there shall be no more sea. 



ISO LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

The apostle John had some knowledge of the sea. 
He had been a fisherman, and had sailed his bark on 
that little inland lake whose waters witnessed the foot- 
steps of the incarnate Deity, and when angered into 
turbulence, at His commanding voice subsided and 
became calm. He lived also for a time at Ephesus, 
near the ^Egean and the Mediterranean seas, and 
during his exile he was confined in Patmos, a rocky 
island in the ^Egean sea. In a cave overlooking the 
sea and its islands toward his beloved Ephesus, 
tradition says that he saw and recorded the pro- 
phetic visions given in the Book of Revelation. It 
was now, with the sea around him, dashing at his 
feet, that he wrote, — his eye beholding the new 
heaven and the new earth, — " And there was no 
more sea." 

There are those who think that this world is not to 
be literally destroyed, but is to be fitted up to become 
the final abode of the saints. What do they do with 
these words of the apostle, " And there was no more 
sea"? Do they hold to a literal fulfilment of the 
words, "The saints shall inherit the earth," and yet 
believe that there is to be no more sea? Possibly 
in some way this world is to be changed and purified 
by fire, and made the residence of ransomed beings 
after the general judgment. It has undergone great 
c-hanges, and it may undergo yet more. The sea is to 
give up its dead, and its depths may even then be 
lifted to a summit level, and the vast stretch of waters 
forever disappear. Three fourths of the present sur- 
face of the earth is occupied by seas and oceans. Let 
these disappear, and there would be so much more 



THE SEA. 



181 



room for the occupancy of man. As there are to be 
new heavens and a new earth, perhaps it is meant that 
no such extent of earth is to be given up to the waste 
of waters. I take the text, however, not as relating to 
the material globe, but to the future blessedness of the 
righteous. I think the idea is that all which ocean 
speaks of in the way of dreariness, waste, and grief 
shall have no place in heaven. 

There are some grand, sublime, and inspiring 
thoughts connected with the ocean. It has ever 
been the theme of poetry, sentiment, and song, and 
is a type of infinity. The words that I heard when 
a child, listening to a popular singer, have never faded 
from my memory, — 

" On old Long Island's sea-girt shore 
Many an hour I 've whiled away, 
Listening to the ocean's roar 
That dashed the beach at Rockaway." 

The ocean speaks to us. We love to commune with 
it. You have gone perhaps for health or pleasure to 
the seaside. When the day was calm, the plashing at 
your feet seemed like the cry of merry voices ; and 
when the white caps appeared, and the waves dashed 
furiously, you were impressed with the mighty power 
and majesty of the sea. The margin of the ocean 
seems like the boundary between two worlds. Over 
the vast expanse there come to us voices from the 
far away. Out where the eye sees no limits the 
spirits seem to dwell who have once tabernacled with 
us here, and there is the home whither, by and by, 
we ourselves are going. 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



The ocean speaks to us of the great majesty of God. 
It is His hand that has hollowed out these depths and 
that has given to the sea its bounds. With solemn 
grandeur God asked of Job : " Who shut up the sea 
with doors, . . . and set bars and doors, and said, 
Hitherto shalt thou come, but no farther: and here 
shall thy proud waves be stayed? . . . Hast thou entered 
into the springs of the sea? or hast thou walked in 
the search of the depth?" The Psalmist writes, "Thy 
way is in the sea, and Thy path in the great waters, 
and Thy footsteps are not known." Whatever there 
is of mystery, grandeur, vastness, and depth in the 
ocean, that fitly symbolizes immensity and greatness 
in God. " His ways are past finding out; His judg- 
ments are a great deep ; " His providences are an 
unfathomable sea. Aptly does one write : — 

** Thou glorious mirror, where the Almighty's form 
Glasses itself in tempests : in all time, 
Calm or convulsed, — in breeze, or gale, or storm, 
Icing the pole, or in the torrid clime 
Dark-heaving ; boundless, endless, and sublime, — 
The image of eternity, the throne 
Of the invisible." 

We speak of the ocean as a waste ; and yet the ocean 
has its uses and is a world in itself. It is more than 
a mirror of Deity; it proclaims other attributes than 
that of power. " O Lord, how manifold are Thy 
works; in wisdom hast Thou made them all: the 
earth is full of Thy riches. So is this great and wide 
sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both 
small and great beasts. There go the ships; there 



THE SEA. 



183 



is that leviathan, whom Thou hast made to play 
therein. These wait all upon Thee." 

The Divine goodness is seen in peopling the waters 
with so many forms of life, and in furnishing sub- 
sistence and pleasure to all the inhabitants of the 
sea, from the humblest minnow to the hugest whale. 
Nor in giving dominion to man was the sea excluded. 
The edict which put under his feet " all sheep and 
oxen, yea and the beasts of the field," added, " the 
fowl of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatsoever 
passeth through the paths of the seas." This domin- 
ion man has of late years asserted. He has gone forth 
to explore his possessions, dropping his line in every 
inlet, penetrating to the extreme north, finding every 
unknown island, stretching the speaking cable from 
shore to shore, and declaring his right to all by Divine 
investment, and in the name of religion, commerce, 
and humanity. The sea becomes the middle party 
through which the exchanges of all lands are carried 
on. Our indebtedness to the mariner is something 
that we speak lightly of and too little appreciate. 
Here is a class of men who exile themselves from the 
delights of home, who have no families or who leave 
wife and children for months or years, who risk their 
lives and suffer many hardships to bring to us the 
products of other countries, and to furnish a highway 
along which commerce may move and the inhabi- 
tants of distant lands shake hands. How large the 
class of seamen, and what opportunities do they 
have for beholding the footsteps of Deity in the sea ! 
"They that go down to the sea in ships, that do 
business in great waters ; these see the works of the 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Lord, and His wonders in the deep. For He com- 
mandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth 
up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, 
they go down again to the depths: their soul is 
melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, 
and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit's 
end. Then they cry unto the Lord in their trouble, 
and He bringeth them out of their distresses. He 
maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof 
are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet ; 
so He bringeth them unto their desired haven." Let 
us pray for the men whose life with more of peril 
than poetry is " on the ocean wave," and their " home 
on the rolling deep ; " and when an opportunity arises 
for building a Bethel, furnishing seamen with books, 
or contributing otherwise to their good, let us not be 
backward in giving. Jesus went down to the sea and 
called from their nets, thus honoring their craft, men 
whom He put among the twelve apostles. " Fishers 
of men " they should now be. 

There are those who have friends at sea. Your 
boy, perhaps, is one of those who do business on the 
deep. How anxiously does your heart go out for 
him ! And when the winds howl and the night is dark 
and the storm is raging, you cannot but think of him 
who is ever exposed to peril; and how earnestly do 
you supplicate that God will shield him from all harm ! 
There is a close connection between a mother's heart 
and the sea when her boy is there, or a wife's heart and 
the sea when her husband is there. It would seem 
that to such, anxious and worried lest some evil should 
come to their loved ones, the words must bring com- 



THE SEA. 



I8 5 



fort and healing, — " There shall be no more sea;" 
the business and the peril of the sailor shall cease 
together. 

It is to be confessed that there is a fascination in 
the sea. The boy in the inland country who has 
never seen an ocean steamer or a sailing vessel of any 
kind, who has only read of the sailor's life, and has his 
head filled with fabulous inventions, perhaps runs 
away from home to seek adventure and try his for- 
tunes upon the deep. The sailor class must be, and 
God undoubtedly makes some with tastes and apti- 
tudes to follow this calling. Sometimes a light thing 
may turn the scale and fix destiny. We know the 
power of pictures, and of teaching through the eye. 
I once read of an aged couple in New England whose 
three sons had gone to sea. One evening a visitor 
was present and they were deploring their misfortune 
in not being able to keep a child at home to be the 
comfort of their old age. While they were talking, 
the visitor noticed a picture over the fireplace ; it was 
that of a ship at sea, — the sails all spread, the water 
smooth, the sky serene. When they had finished, the 
visitor said, " I will explain to you the cause of your 
misfortune: it is that picture." And so it was; the 
children's eyes had studied it ; imagination had woven 
thoughts around it; the outer world spoke to them 
through it and it drew them to the sea. The elements 
of the soul may be roused into exercise or even influ- 
enced and controlled by a very little thing. Let us 
be careful as to what sort of pictures we hang upon 
our walls. I would rather have something sunny and 
hopeful than those awful representations of Christ's 



1 86 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

agony, or of fearful battles, or of wrecks at sea. It 
is due the ocean that we should admit that it confers 
special benefits upon the land. It spreads its broad 
surface to the sun's rays, sends up its exhalations, and 
supplies those wandering cisterns in the skies which 
pour down their grateful benedictions in showers 
and rain. Thus the springs in the mountains are 
kept supplied, and the thirsty meadows smile with 
living green. The watercourses speed their way 
to the ocean, which forms new clouds, and becomes 
thus the all-sufficient source of joy and strength to 
man. 

But think well if we may of the sea, it still is in some 
sense man's enemy. It seems to dispute his dominion, 
to rise up in rebellion, and now and then to gain a 
victory over him. The words are impressive : — 

" Ocean, thou dreadful and tumultuous home 
Of dangers, at eternal war with man ! 
Death's capital, where most he domineers, 
With all his chosen terrors frowning round, 
Wide opening and loud roaring still for more. 
Too faithful mirror ! how dost thou reflect 
The melancholy face of human life ! " 

Every year has its sad disasters. We can recall 
awful wrecks occurring within the life of each of us. 
I think of a college classmate who perished in the 
wreck of the "Arctic" in 1854. Three hundred and 
seven persons lost their lives at that time. In 1856 
occurred the wreck of the " Pacific," a Collins steamer. 
There were one hundred and eighty-six persons on 
board, and the vessel was never heard from. The 
"Austria" burned at sea in 1858. There were five 



THE SEA. 



I8 7 



hundred and thirty-eight persons on board, of whom 
only sixty-seven were saved. The wreck of the " Hun- 
garian" occurred in i860. All on board — two hun- 
dred and five persons — perished. We think also of 
the " Ville du Havre," wrecked off the coast of Nova 
Scotia in 1873. Oh, what a night was that! How 
sudden the call ! The passengers were quietly sleep- 
ing, dreaming perhaps of home, and then the tre- 
mendous crash, the rush of icy waters, the falling of 
masts upon the slender life-boats, the cry of anguish, 
the stiffled utterance, and then the sinking in death 
beneath the dark, cold billows ! 

But this great enemy shall be overcome. In con- 
nection with the narrative of awful wrecks, the words 
bring comfort, — " And there shall be no more sea." 
Old ocean shall not detain in her dark caverns the 
myriad forms engulfed there; for the sea and death 
and hell shall give up their dead. This great ceme- 
tery, where so many precious forms have been buried, 
in whose deep graves the treasures of many centu- 
ries have been gathered, shall disappear, and the an- 
guish and peril, with the wrecks and storms, that now 
make the sea a name of terror, shall be known no 
more. 

The sea is typical of human life. " We are out on 
an ocean sailing." We speak of " the voyage of life." 
The term " wreck " is familiar. We speak of wrecks 
of love and friendship, wrecks of character, wrecks of 
fortune, wrecks of institutions and governments. By 
and by we shall be over the sea; that is, if we do not 
founder on our life voyage. If the storm beats upon 
us now, if we labor in our strife with the waves, if the 



i88 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



fogs enclose us and the rocks seem near, if dangers 
thicken and we think we are going down, it is but a 
little while, and the sea will be passed, and we shall 
come to the desired haven ; to us " there shall be no 
more sea." We may think we are in mid-ocean, and 
fancy great perils, and yet when the fog lifts find our- 
selves just off the longed-for coast, and nearer home 
than we thought. 

The sea speaks to us of separations. How wide it 
makes the distance between loving hearts ! How long 
the letters are in coming, and over what an expanse 
must they be brought ! When shall we meet the loved 
ones ? When shall this great interval of time and dis- 
tance cease to be? Oh, happy thought, " there shall 
be no more sea " ! We have already passed much of 
this distance; with the telescope of faith we catch 
glimpses of the heavenly battlements and see our 
friends gathering to meet us on the other shore. 
Soon the whole family will be together; there shall 
be no more sea; the chasm shall disappear; and 
shore shall join itself with shore. 

I will not detain you ; but this I say, should the sea 
be to you a type of anything that is dreary, dangerous, 
and sad, it "will be no more." The dismal waste shall 
have no place in heaven. The anguish of the deep 
shall cause no wail to be lifted there. 

Dear friends, are you steering for that country, is 
the star of Bethlehem your guide, and are you expect- 
ing in a few days more to drop your anchor on those 
peaceful shores? You know there are little tug-boats 
that meet and guide the larger craft up into the river 
channels, and pilot-vessels on the ocean coast are 



THE SEA. 



wont to go out and meet the great ships as they 
come in from the sea. Will you not accept of such 
help to bring you into a safe harbor? Or, rather, will 
you not take on board the Great Pilot, and let Him 
bring you where no chasm yawns and no billow of 
death rolls? 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



The busy world shoves angrily aside 

The man who stands with arms akimbo set 

Until occasion tells him what to do ; 

And he who waits to have his task marked out, 

Shall die and leave his errand unfulfilled. 

James R. Lowell. 



XIV. 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 

And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in wait, he 
went and entered into the castle and told Paul. — Acts 
xxiii. 16. 

PAUL'S life might be dramatized ; its events could 
be pictured. He is now in Jerusalem. Having 
escaped one death, he is threatened with another. He 
had preached Christ in the temple. The city was 
moved ; the people ran together, and were about to 
kill him, when he was taken out of their hands, bound 
with two chains, and carried into the castle. On the 
castle stairs he made that defence beginning, " Men, 
brethren, and fathers." They heard him patiently 
through the account of his conversion, but when he 
came to the word " Gentiles," they were filled with 
rage. " Away," said they, " with such a fellow from 
the earth ; for it is not fit that he should live. And 
they cried out, cast off their clothes, and threw dust 
into the air." From the stairs Paul was taken into the 
castle, bound with thongs, and tortured by scourging. 
The next morning he was loosed from his bonds and 
brought before the great Jewish council or sanhedrin. 
Here he began another speech ; but at the first sen- 
tence " the high priest Ananias commanded them 
that stood by him to smite him on the mouth." Now 

*3 



194 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



began another scene ; the council were divided among 
themselves. Sadducees and Pharisees fell into a quar- 
rel. " And when there arose a great dissension, the 
chief captain, fearing lest Paul should have been 
pulled in pieces of them, commanded the soldiers to 
go down and to take him by force from among them, 
and to bring him into the castle," or back to the place 
where they had kept him the night before. We are 
not told what Paul's thoughts or experiences were the 
first night, but " the night following," it is written, 
" the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, 
Paul : for as thou hast testified of Me in Jerusalem, so 
must thou bear witness also at Rome." Thus things 
stand : Paul has been taken from the council, and is 
now in the hands of the Roman captain in the castle. 
The captain holds him as a prisoner, and at the same 
time protects him from the violence of the mob. 
What now will those maddened Jews do? While 
Paul is receiving a visit from the Lord to cheer and 
strengthen him, they, or the more brutal portion of 
them, are in the same hours of the night concocting 
a scheme of murder. " And when it was day they 
bound themselves under a curse, saying that they 
would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul ; 
and they were more than forty which had made this 
conspiracy." The plan proposed was this: They 
would get the chief priests and elders with the coun- 
cil to signify to the chief captain that he should bring 
Paul down to them, that they might examine him 
more thoroughly in their council. Perhaps they 
promised not to get into an uproar as before, and 
complained that Lysias took Paul away to the castle 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



195 



before they had done with him. As there was a con- 
siderable distance between the castle and the place 
where the sanhedrin met, their design was to lie in 
wait, and as soon as Paul came near to rush out and 
kill him. Thus do perils thicken around the apostle ! 
But Paul has a nephew, his sisters son ; he may have 
been a mere lad ; he is called a " young man." Of 
Paul's family we know little. This nephew may have 
been residing with his parents at Jerusalem. He may 
have come there, as did Paul, when a young man, to 
study the Jewish law. Whether this young man and 
his parents were Jews or Christians does not appear. 
It seems as if Paul's sister should have been a Chris- 
tian, and that this young man must have loved and 
respected Paul. Now observe the office which this 
young man performs. He has heard of the con- 
spiracy, and he hastens to make it known. How he 
heard of it we do not know. Perhaps strict secrecy 
was not enjoined or thought necessary. They did not 
see how word could get to Paul, and they meant to be 
so prompt that they would have him killed before 
there was time for the plot to be discovered. But 
where there were forty concerned it was likely to leak 
out; or the scheme may have been divulged in the 
school the young man was attending. In some way 
he had become informed, and immediately hastened to 
make the plot known. " He entered into the castle and 
told Paul." Paul had not been convicted of any offence, 
and may not have been closely guarded ; or the nephew 
may have been admitted because of the relationship. 
Paul sends him to the chief captain, who kindly re- 
ceives him, takes him by the hand, hears his tcsti- 



196 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



mony, and summoning a heavy force, — four hundred 
and seventy men, — sends Paul by night to Cesarea. 
Here the Roman governor Felix lived, to whom Lysias 
addressed a letter. Cesarea was on the Mediterra- 
nean coast, sixty-eight miles northwest of Jerusalem. 
The reason for starting in the night was probably for 
the sake of secrecy, and to elude the band of des- 
peradoes. Beasts were provided so that the apostle 
could ride. The guard was large, for the hostility was 
great and the number of the conspirators numerous. 
The two hundred infantry and the two hundred spear- 
men, having seen Paul safely out of the city and at a 
distance from it, and having marched all night, turned 
back in the morning. " On the morrow," we read, 
" they left the horsemen to go with him, and returned 
to the castle." Thus attended Paul came to Cesarea, 
where he was detained as a prisoner two years and 
then sent to Rome. 

We go back now to notice Paul in the castle, the 
conspirators plotting for his life, and the young man 
bringing the information whereby the plot was frus- 
trated. As in a fine picture there are features that 
stand out to view, — there a tree, here human forms, 
there a river running between mountains, there a rock 
covered with moss, — so let us look at some of the 
points in this picture of Paul. 

1. Observe the Divine providciice here. It was a 
fearful time for Paul. His situation was desperate. 
The mass of the Jewish people had set themselves 
against him. Forty and more were mad enough to 
take an oath that they would neither eat nor drink till 
they had killed Paul. In the face of so much hostility 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



1 97 



and such a powerful conspiracy, under a government 
that was itself opposed to Christianity, without sup- 
port, and without arms, were his chances of life good? 
Would any modern Life Insurance Company be will- 
ing to take such a risk? And yet no life was safer 
than Paul's. He was the only man in all that city that 
was sure of living. That he might not doubt it the 
Lord himself appeared, telling him to be of good 
cheer, and assuring him that as he had testified of 
Him in Jerusalem so he should witness for Him at 
Rome. He was in the midst of wrath, violence, and 
danger, and yet he was safer than a child in its 
mother's arms. God stood by him, as He had done 
many times before. God's hand controlled all the 
elements and governed all the scene. Back of the 
fury and the rage was the secret power of God. It 
was Providence that arranged the circumstances 
whereby Paul was delivered, causing the chief captain 
to interpose in time, the plot to be discovered and 
frustrated, and that made Lysias so kindly disposed to 
the young man. " The king's heart is in the hand of 
the Lord as the rivers of water ; He turneth it whither- 
soever He will." In the midst of dangers, fears, and 
deaths it is safe trusting in God. Why have we not 
more faith? Why are we so soon terrified? Why do 
we not go even into prison, for there shall the Lord 
come to us and say, <( Be of good cheer ! " Our hours 
of greatest darkness may witness God's presence, and 
our most hopeless experiences be filled with highest 
joy. We may think that God forgets, that He fails 
to see our state; but He will not let us be harmed. 
There are no councils of the wicked in which He is 



193 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



not present to see and hear, and there are no machi- 
nations of evil which He will not overcome. He will 
deliver His darling from the power of the dog, and 
rescue His chosen from the mouth of lions. 

" Of His deliverance I will boast, 
Till all who are distressed 
From my example comfort take, 
And charm their griefs to rest." 

2. Notice the chief agent in breaking up the plans of 
the conspirators. It was a " young man," — perhaps 
a mere child. A child's ears are very quick, and a 
child may be very useful. Children should not tattle ; 
they should not carry messages that do harm, but to 
reveal a plot to take life is right. The text says: 
" And when Paul's sister's son heard of their lying in 
wait, he went and entered into the castle and told 
Paul." That was right ; he would have been a parti- 
cipator in Paul's murder had he not made known what 
he heard. We should distinguish between giving 
proper information and tattling. All is not to be told 
that we hear. Many things had better not be men- 
tioned, but conspiracies should be revealed. Any- 
thing should be told that will save life or prevent 
great harm. Here was an instance in which a mere 
youth was the instrument of great good. This is all 
we know of him, and yet his life becomes inwoven 
with that of the apostle. By telling he saved Paul's 
life, and thus became partner in Paul's usefulness. It 
was after this that Paul wrote his Epistles to the Ephe- 
sians, 2d Timothy, Philippians, Colossians, and Phile- 
mon, — perhaps others, — so that for these sacred 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



199 



writings we are in some sense indebted to that young 
man. And not only this, but for Paul's labors subse- 
quent to that time. Thus a child's life becomes iden- 
tified with that of an eminent apostle. So all may be 
useful. Our lives overlap one another, and no one is 
what he is in himself. In the attempt of Hungary 
several years ago to obtain independence, the sister of 
Kossuth rendered essential service by carrying mes- 
sages in her dress. Her movements were suspected, 
and she was thrown into prison. When the cause 
failed she came as a refugee to this country. I met 
her once in travelling, and she said, " I feel that I 
have lived a thousand years," and then modified her 
remark by saying, " No — five hundred ; " adding, 
" for six long months I lay in prison, and every time 
the door of my cell opened I supposed the men had 
come to lead me out to execution." Now, suppose 
the cause had succeeded and Hungary had become 
free, her name would not have been known, but her 
brother's; and yet her patriotism and service might 
have been the instrument of success, or an important 
factor in producing the grand result. Other women 
have rendered services to their country which may 
never be known, and yet without which their coun- 
try might have suffered much or have lost nation- 
ality and independence. We cannot know in this 
world where one's usefulness begins or ends. One 
labors and another enters into his labors. We mis- 
judge; we think it is only those we see, or of whom 
we hear, who are doing most; and yet the carrying of 
a message may be an act that shall perpetuate a useful 
life and send down blessings to the end of time. Our 



200 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



children are teaching and moulding us, while they may 
be useful in some incidental way. Even tlie infant 
does not live in vain. " Out of the mouth of babes 
and sucklings God has perfected praise." The child 
of days with its tiny fingers makes imprints on the 
sands of time which the ocean of eternity cannot wash 
out. It fulfils a mission greater than an angel's, for it 
is one for whom Christ died; and it has touched and 
roused affections as only a child can. Perhaps its 
ministry has been to lift the parents' hearts to God. 
If it has not spoken by its death, it has brought a 
message from the Sabbath school which has awakened 
attention, and led to Jesus as a Rock of Refuge. It 
has heard of spiritual enemies and conspirators for the 
soul ; and it has come and told of this, and rescued 
father and mother from Satan's hands. Let us learn, as 
we know of enemies that are seeking to destroy our 
relatives and friends, like Paul's nephew to go and tell. 
It is very honorable business. If we love these people, 
can we keep from them the truth ? If they fall by Satan's 
wiles, shall we not be party to the crime? And let us 
learn this great truth, as another expresses it, " that every 
one can do good and advance God's glory, if this in- 
significant, nameless child — not again mentioned in the 
Bible — saved Paul's life," and so became a sharer in the 
apostle's labors. Let us have the will, and ask, " Lord, 
what wilt Thou have me to do?" If He sends one 
on an errand, and says to another " Wait," let us obey 
and do. 

" In the halls of mirth and feasting 
Servants stand with folded hinds, 
Waiting with their watchful glances 
For the master's quick commands. 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



201 



Yet they may remain unbidden, 
Through the feast, to come or gc ; 

But they serve, and serve as truly, 
As those hurrying to and fro." 

It is a mistake to think that we must do some great 
thing, that we cannot be useful unless we are another 
Paul. Be Paul's nephew; that will do. The world 
may not honor you, but you shall be a sharer in an 
apostle's labors and joys. The " cup of cold water 
only " shall not lose its reward. Find your sphere ; 
find something to do. Paul was in prison, and the 
young man went to him; if you cannot hunt up 
prisoners, perhaps you can visit the sick or the poor. 
Smooth the pillow of the dying; drop some sweet 
word into their ear; sing, or speak, or pray. Say to 
the faint-hearted, " Be of good cheer ; " and lend a 
helping hand to every brother that is in need. Your 
mission ! Your mission ! Cannot you find some little 
thing to do? 

3. We look at the picture again and note the honor 
that God puts upon his servants. See that great pro- 
cession ! Paul is travelling in state ; three kinds of sol- 
diers by Lysias's word attend him, — footmen, spear- 
men, cavalry. Commonly he went wearily on foot; 
now he rides. It would seem that he must have 
laughed outright to see that he was receiving so much 
attention. Four hundred and seventy soldiers to 
guard one man ! Four hundred and seventy soldiers 
to protect him from forty bandits ! Thus was a pagan 
ruler interested in his safety, and pagan soldiers made 
to honor and defend him. But this suggests the pro- 
tection that God affords to all his people. Sometimes 



202 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



He furnishes them — if not miraculous — providential 
deliverances. Says one, " Who that reads of Paul 
attended by his military guard does not at once think 
of Luther, his brother in spirit, his successor in office, 
the partner of his fortunes — how he was taken by 
armed men and safely conducted to the Castle of 
Wartburg?" A physical escort is well, but every 
saint is guarded by an angel band. It is written, 
" The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them 
that fear Him and delivereth them." " He shall give 
His angels charge over thee to keep thee in all thy 
ways." If we could see these angels, if we could 
know what honor God puts upon us, if we could ap- 
preciate His protection, we should be moved by deep 
sincerity, and let our emotions break forth in wonder- 
ment and joy. 

4. Look again at PauPs enemies; observe their 
rage. What foolish men! See what a fever; what 
frantic madness, and all because Paul preached 
Christ ! They would have eaten him up ; they would 
have torn every limb from his body: they would 
have devoured him as a lion eats greedily his prey. 
First they mobbed him, dragged him from the tem- 
ple, beat him, and were killing him when Lysias in- 
terfered. Again they were ready to tear him in pieces 
in the council, and Lysias again interfered. Now 
they band together by an oath — forty and more — 
that they will neither eat nor drink till they have 
killed Paul. It is a long fast for them ; for Lysias a 
third time interferes and rescues the apostle by send- 
ing him by night to Cesarea. Such is men's hatred 
to the truth. So unwilling are men to have their 



PAUL'S NEPHEW. 



203 



prejudices crossed, their sins pointed out, or to learn 
of the living way. The Master said, " They will hate 
you because they hate Me," and the history of per- 
secutions and martyrdoms attest His words. But 
blessed are those who suffer and stand true for 
Christ's sake. There was a young man of whom this 
story was told : he was walking in Central Park, 
New York, when he was accosted by an elderly 
gentleman who in a very polite way begged of him 
to accept a tract The suddenness of the offer and 
the courteous manner of the gentleman led him to 
take the tract. He looked, and it was headed, 
"Where are you going . . . after death ? " An arrow 
pierced him ; he was raving mad. He tore the little 
paper into shreds ; he would not leave a piece of it 
that any other person might read. Still the words 
were there, rankling in his soul, — " Where are you 
going. . . after death?" He was a prominent play- 
actor. He had an engagement for that evening in one 
of the theatres of New York. But he was sick at heart ; 
he could not play. He was told that he must ; but he 
stoutly declined. Then he was ridiculed, threatened, 
and persecuted. He fled to Chicago, taking with him 
a letter to Mr. Moody. Here he tarried, trying to 
acknowledge Christ, having left a lucrative profession 
because he deemed it sinful, and beset by enemies 
who threatened his life. Like Paul he had experience 
of what it costs to stand up for Jesus. His talent was 
acknowledged; he could have earned two hundred 
dollars a week; he was importuned, urged, and 
threatened, but still he stood firm. The Young 
Men's Christian Association gave him employment, 



204 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



at which he received but one dollar and a half per day ; 
and yet with the other door open to him, friends en- 
treating, and enemies swearing that they would stab 
him to the heart, he did not go back. But his ene- 
mies ! They were like those who would have killed 
Paul. The wicked rage when their ranks are broken, 
their pleasures thwarted, or their gains destroyed. 
As for the courteous gentleman, he was in some 
respects like Paul's sister's son. It was a little thing 
he did. He simply handed a tract, and probably did 
not know what became of it or what it did ; but it 
waked up a slumbering soul and brought spiritual life 
to a lost sinner. 

5. Let us give one more glance at this picture and 
pass on. See; Paul thought much of the use of means. 
He did not fall back on knowledge or decrees. He 
did not say to his nephew, " Never mind, go home 
and be quiet. My enemies cannot harm me, for the 
Lord appeared to me only last night, and said I 
should go to Rome." He acted on the information 
received. He sent immediately for a centurion, and 
had the young man brought to Lysias, and availed 
himself of Lysias's protection, and went to Cesarea. 
Thus he made himself safe, and secured the fulfilment 
of the promise by the use of means. If any of us 
wish to be safe, we can never accomplish it on the 
mere decree of God. We must act, like Paul. 

Here we leave this picture. May God cause some 
of the impressions of it to linger in our minds ! 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



The words " to inherit," "heirs," and " inheritance " are all of 
them used in a general sense in the Scriptures. They are favorite 
terms with the sacred writers, because possession by inheritance 
was much more secure than that obtained by purchase or by any 
other method. There are three ideas included in these words 
accessory to that which constitutes their prominent meaning, — 
the right, the certainty, and the unalienable character of the 
possession. 

Charles Hodge. 



XV. 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 
If children, then heirs. — Romans viii. 17. 
ET me read to you from a will which I hold in 



i — > my hands. It is the will of the richest Person 
in the universe, and it has something in it that con- 
cerns you. Usually when a man writes his will he 
says, " This is my last will and testament." The 
Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New, 
or the old will and the new. By the old will grace 
was offered to the Jews; by the new it is extended 
to the Gentiles. The property is not changed, only 
the heirs are increased. The New Testament is added 
like a codicil to the will. 

It is interesting to observe the " I wills " of the New 
Testament. The advent song was a promise of good- 
will to men. Jesus says, " Come unto Me, and I will 
give you rest ; " " If ye shall ask anything in My name, 
I will do it; " " I will pray the Father; " " I will not 
leave you comfortless ; " " Father, I will that they 
also whom Thou hast given Me be with Me where 



It is usual to ask, when a man of wealth dies, " What 
property did he leave?" If it was an immense estate 
it may take pages to describe it. We are curious to 




I am. 



203 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



know what disposition a man makes of his possessions 
even if we are not his heirs ; we are more curious if our 
name is in the will. Let us imagine that we have 
assembled as a family, and I am to read to you our 
Father's will. I cannot read all of it; only portions 
of it, to show what it is. 

I. The first point to be noticed is the inker itcuice. 
" If children, then heirs." Heirs to what? " Describe 
the property," you say. But this is something not 
easy to do. We read, " Eye hath not seen, nor ear 
heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the 
things which God hath prepared for them that love 
Him." " It doth not yet appear what we shall be." 
The truth is, we are like children who are left with 
palaces, a crown, and a kingdom ; but we do not 
understand it. Offer a child a plaything, a stick of 
candy, or an orange, and he will appreciate and un- 
derstand the gift; but take him by the hand and lead 
him through gorgeous apartments, dress him in 
princely robes, and wave your hand out to impress 
him with the extent of his dominion, and you will 
daze and confound him. Stand before a child with 
a title-deed and a handful of rich fruit, and he will 
choose the fruit and reject the title-deed. Still, we 
can form some guesses as to the inheritance. Let us 
hear what the will says, and how it is described here. 
I read : " Begotten to an inheritance incorruptible, 
and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in 
heaven for you." " An inheritance incorruptible ; " 
then it is not like property that runs down, a building 
that decays, a possession that wastes away. " Un- 
defiled ; " it has not the taint of dishonesty in it; it 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



209 



is obtained by right. " And that fadeth not away." 
It will not dim or tarnish with the centuries. " Re- 
served in heaven for you." Reserved. Held for us, 
kept, — in heaven, — ah, we cannot understand it ! It 
makes a difference where property is situated. An 
inheritance in heaven ! in heaven ! Here are other 
extracts from the will : " I appoint unto you a king- 
dom ; " " inherit the kingdom prepared for you from 
the foundation of the world ; " " it is the Father's 
good pleasure to give you the kingdom ; " " heirs of 
the kingdom which He hath promised ; " " inherit 
everlasting life ; " " worketh for us a far more exceed- 
ing and eternal weight of glory." Now we have visions 
of country, and again of city. This is the language : 
" Living fountains of waters ; " "a pure river clear as 
crystal ; " " the tree of life which bare twelve manner 
of fruits; " "the city lieth foursquare; " "the wall of it 
was of jasper;" "the twelve gates were twelve pearls ;" 
" the street of the city was pure gold." But these are 
flashes ; they let us see only as the lightning's glare 
at night. But even the flashes reveal that the heavenly 
state is one of distinguished honor, exalted service, 
and ecstatic joy. The honor is that bestowed upon 
kings and priests, the service is that of harps and 
songs, and the joy is that of redeemed souls. 

" Sickness and sorrow, pain and death, 
Are felt and feared no more." 

Especially sin is absent, the source of all sorrow 
and suffering. Observe further, it is not an empty 
house that we inherit, but a home furnished and 
occupied by other members of the family. Broken 

14 



2T0 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



households are re-cemented. Husbands and wives, 
parents and children, who have died in Christ, meet 
to part no more. Dear is it even now to think of 
the loved ones that are awaiting us there. There 
is the babe, the son, the daughter, the brother, sister, 
friend, the devout father, the saintly mother, who 
passed from our sight so many months or years ago. 
Sacred is their memory. But they have not left us. 
No; they have only gone to enhance the value of 
the heavenly inheritance, and to send down an in- 
fluence to draw us above. 

" Passed on before, 
Waiting they watch us approaching the shore ; 
Singing to cheer us through death's chilling gloom, 
1 Joyfully, joyfully haste to your home.' " 

Such is the inheritance ; and yet, as we confessed at 
the outset, we can form but faint and feeble concep- 
tions of it. It is too vast and glorious for our in- 
fantile powers to comprehend. 

2. Now we turn to observe the heirs. Having 
looked at the inheritance, we ask, To whom does this 
fall? It is a vast and rich estate, but what does the 
will say as to the disposal of it? Now a tinge man- 
tles our cheek, a sudden joy possesses our soul. We 
assumed it a moment ago; but now we hear our 
name read, and see that it is ourselves who are 
mentioned here. We had supposed that the angels 
would be named. But, "Verily He took not on Him 
the nature of angels; He took on Him the seed of 
Abraham." Michael and Gabriel are not mentioned 
here. A large part of the angelic order were cut off 
altogether, and are consigned to the bottomless pit; 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



211 



while those who stand can only see our honor, be- 
come our servitors, and share in our joy. Yes, we are 
the heirs. We know the heirs better than we know 
the estate. The good man who adopts a wretched 
child keeps perhaps an account of his birth and 
parentage lest the child being grown should dispute 
his origin, swell with pride, and claim as a lawful heir. 
Here, then, is our genealogical tree ; we cannot repu- 
diate or ignore it ; it tells from what stock we came 
and shows what we are. If we are named in the will, 
we are also described. Let us see ; by nature sinful, 
rebels, criminals, and friendless and homeless too. 
No foundling or outcast was ever so helpless and 
hopeless as were we. But God hears our cry, pities 
our condition, overlooks our faults, calls us friends, 
makes us children. We sit at His table; we are 
clothed and cared for at His expense; we are de- 
prived of no comfort or luxury that His house affords. 
Thus we receive the spirit of adoption whereby we 
cry Abba, Father. Think of it ; these, these are the 
heirs, — heirs because children. Such is the logic 
of the text: "If children, then heirs." As children 
inherit their father's property unless cut off by will, 
so God's children inherit the kingdom which He 
possesses and has prepared for and willed to them 
from the foundation of the world. But we are never 
to forget how we became God's children, and hence 
inheritors of this estate and legatees in this will. 
"Behold what manner of love the Father hath be- 
stowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of 
God ! " The more we reflect, the more we are as- 
tonished at our demerit and at God's compassion, — the 



212 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



sweep of love, the stoop of grace. Shocked at our 
ill-desert, we cry : — 

" Depth of mercy ! Can there be 
Mercy still reserved for me ? 
Can my God his wrath forbear, 
Me the chief of sinners spare ? " 

Nor was it a simple reach of love, without sacrifice or 
cost. " Heirs of God," says the text ; but it is im- 
mediately added, " and joint heirs with Christ." Ah ! 
it is Christ who inherits, and we inherit through Him. 
He bought the imperfect title; He paid the forfeit; 
He took our place, and " now once in the end of the 
world hath appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice 
of Himself." 

" Though Lord of all, above, below, 
He went to Olivet for me ; 
There drank my cup of wrath and woe, 
When bleeding in Gethsemane. 

" The ever-blessed Son of God 
Went up to Calvary for me ; 
There paid my debt, there bore my load, 
In His own body on the tree." 

Ah, wondrous cross ! It was there and then that 
the will was made that secures this inheritance to you 
and me. It was a testament written in blood, wit- 
nessed by hosts of angels good and bad, by mocking 
soldiers and weeping disciples, and sealed when the 
sun was darkened, the graves were opened, and the 
veil of the temple was rent in twain. Rather may 
we say that that was the proving of the will, or the 
breaking of the seal and the public reading of the 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



213 



document, whereby each may know what a legacy he 
has obtained. Not a name is wanting; every child is 
there. Some of you, perhaps, have seen a well-known 
picture entitled " The Reading of the Will." It repre- 
sents the assembled company, the interested look upon 
the face of each ; but there are two or three persons 
passing out of the door whose faces bear the look of 
disappointment and disgust. They were omitted from 
the will ! Not so with this will ! None turn away sur- 
prised and grieved who have any right to inherit under 
it. The gift is not only large, but the humblest and 
most obscure, since he is a member of the family, 
shares with the rest. 

3. We come then to a third particular, — that little 
word "if." " If children, then heirs." We must not 
be too confident; there is an " if" in the way. It is a 
little but a very important word. The whole question 
of being heirs turns upon the question whether we 
are children. We cannot be one without the other. 
If children we are surely heirs ; if heirs we are surely 
children. That little word " if," therefore, is of infinite 
importance. It suggests that our hope of heaven may 
be a spurious hope, our title to mansions in the skies 
not well authenticated or established. The existence 
of such an " if" has been a barrier in the way of many 
earthly projects, given rise to much litigation, and con- 
sumed a vast amount of money, thought, and time. 
The case of Mrs. Gaines is in point. After years of 
litigation the court gave a judgment in her favor 
against the city of New Orleans for 1,925,667 dollars, 
of which 566,707 dollars was interest. The case was 
in the courts for fifty years. It was all a question re- 



214 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



lating to an " if." If she was the lawful child of a Mr. 
Clark, deceased, then his immense estate must fall to 
her. If she could not establish that point, then she was 
dishonored and pecuniarily ruined. With what ab- 
sorbing energy, therefore, did she give herself up to 
the removal of that " if." It was a fight of fifty years, 
and when she triumphed the world pronounced her 
a true heroine. Nor did her own character and for- 
tune alone hang upon that " if." We are told that 
under previous decisions Mrs. Gaines could have 
turned out about four hundred families holding city 
titles to her property, but she always treated these 
people as innocent sufferers, and made no effort to 
molest them, though she was often sorely in need of 
money. She often said that she meant to secure her 
rights, but if she recovered her property she would 
use it in doing good. Some time ago she even offered 
to settle amicably with the city, and give to these 
people full and free possession of their claims. So 
not her interests alone but the interests of hundreds 
of others hung for half a century on that " if." Of 
these hundreds many fifty years ago were not born ; 
and now the changed drift of title will reach down 
through the sweep of time. If, then, such question 
and consequences attend an earthly title, what shall 
be said of this "if" of which we are speaking now? 
It is infinitely more important to determine whether 
you are a child of God than to trace human lineage 
and titles to kingdoms and estates. " If children, then 
heirs," — that is what the will reads. See, then, how 
plain it is that salvation is not given indiscriminately 
to all. Can these words mean anything else? Could 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



2T 5 



Mrs. Gaines have inherited that property or recovered 
it if she had not been a lawful child and had not 
proved her claim? And can any one demand your 
property but those to whom you will it, or who 
inherit it by law? But you say Christ has willed sal- 
vation to all. No, He has not; for what then does 
the text mean, "If children, then heirs"? — not heirs 
without being children. Only the children are heirs. 
And if all are children, why the distinction; what 
means the "if"? What, too, is meant in another 
place, where certain ones are spoken of as " bastards " 
and not sons? Besides, I refer you to the document 
itself, the very language of Christ's will. " I will that 
they whom thou hast given Me be with Me where I 
am." That was Christ's will. He leaves out all other 
names as legatees there. He goes not out of the 
family ; He makes none but His children heirs. But 
what is it to be His child? This it is important to 
know in order to determine if you are His heir. To 
enable you to know, He has furnished numerous tests 
which you can apply. There are three in this chapter 
in which the text is found. Here is one ; verse 9 : "If 
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of 
His." You ought to know whether you have the 
Spirit of Christ. Verse 14: "For as many as are led 
by the Spirit of God they are the sons of God." Are 
you led by the Spirit of God? If so, you are a son. 
Verse 16: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with 
our spirit that we are the children of God." Have 
you the witness of the Spirit? If so, you are a child. 
Here are two more out of the chapter: "For ye 
are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus." 



2l6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Have you faith, saving faith, — faith that leads you to 
repose on Christ and to take His righteousness as 
your own? Not such as the devils have, who believe 
and tremble; but such as the worthies had whose 
record is furnished in the nth of Hebrews, — faith 
that leads you to obey God, to live righteously, and 
that would lead you to suffer martyrdom, if you must, 
rather than to deny Him. Here is the fifth test: 
" And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth 
himself, even as He is pure." This is said a little 
after the words, " Now are we the sons of God." 
Do you purify yourself then? Do you strive daily 
against sin? Do you feel as Paul felt when he 
cried out, " Oh, wretched man that I am " ? There 
are other tests ; but these are enough. You need not 
remain long in the dark as to whether you are a child. 
I tell you, my friend, you must not call yourself an 
heir if you are not a child. You say, " I don't claim 
exactly to be a child, but I believe I shall inherit 
nevertheless." A gentleman once said to me, "I have 
too good an opinion of my Heavenly Father to think 
that He will cut any of the human family off at the 
last day." I asked him if he did not have so good an 
opinion of his Heavenly Father as to believe that He 
always speaks the truth ! I have read the will, and 
told you what our Heavenly Father says. Besides, 
He does not stop sin and suffering now. He will not 
change or be any better at the last day than He is 
now. A street boy, one of the waifs of the city, halts 
at the residence of a benevolent gentleman. The gen- 
tleman appears at the door and says, " Come in, my 
boy, and be a good and dutiful child, and I will make 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



217 



you my heir." The boy declines, runs away with 
his polishing outfit or bundle of newspapers, will not 
go in, will not comply, and then has so much faith in 
human nature that he says, " I have too good an opin- 
ion of that kind gentleman to think that he will cut 
me off from his will. I claim to be an heir." How 
can he be an heir when he is neither his born son nor 
adopted child, and will not come in and accept the 
conditions of heirship? I tell you again, my friend, 
you must come into the family, submit to its regula- 
tions, and be a child. " If children, then heirs ! " Do 
not deceive yourself and let a fatal " if" stand in the 
way of your soul's salvation ! 

So, then, I have read to you the will. If you have 
listened and did not hear your name mentioned, it is 
not the fault of Him who made the will. I hope you 
will not turn away in disappointment and disgust. I 
hope you will not allow dark thoughts to fill your 
mind and vex yourself with questions of foreknowledge 
and free-will. I hope you will not charge God fool- 
ishly, and insist that in the Divine testament heirs and 
legatees are made such by a partial and arbitrary 
hand. No ! this instrument is a blank document in 
which you can insert your own name. You did not 
hear it because you have not placed it here. Or if I 
seem going too far to the human side, and reaching 
the opposite extreme, let me say, it is a document in 
which God enables you to write your name, holding 
and steadying as it were your hand, the moment you 
express your desire to do so. If you claim that you 
are dependent on God for the inclination and desire, 
I ask, Have you not the inclination and desire already ? 



218 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



But it is not operative. Then ask God to make it so. 
Pray to be quickened, energized, roused. Confess 
your weakness and ask for help. This is certain : no 
man ever sincerely desired to be remembered in the 
mercy of God who was cast away. The poor thief on 
the cross obtained a nuncupative legacy and entered 
that day on the inheritance. When a soldier falls on 
the field of battle, or death in any form suddenly over- 
takes one, and he breathes out his dying requests, 
that is called a nuncupative will, and it holds in law. 
But nuncupative grace is dangerous grace, for it is 
grace at the eleventh hour. Still, there is one case 
like that of the thief, as one remarks, " that none may 
despair, and but one that none may presume." My 
friend, I assure you there is room in the grace of God 
for you. You are not cut off. Grieved as much as 
you have the kind Father, rendered yourself liable as 
much as you have to exclusion from His will, He still 
asks, " Do you wish to be remembered? Shall I 
write your name here?" Grace is not forced; it must 
be sought. It is not God who excludes ; it is you who 
exclude yourself. Come, then, prove His grace, and 
see how readily He will accept and pardon. Now, a 
recognized child of God, without any " if" in the way, 
you shall take your place in the family, and by and by 
come with the other heirs into the full possession of 
the estate. 

A caution now to those whose names are on the 
Church roll. Does it follow that the same names are 
in the will? You have knowledge, perhaps, of the deep 
mortification that has fallen upon persons who thought 
they were heirs to an inheritance but found that they 



IF CHILDREN, THEN HEIRS. 



219 



had no part there. How great must be your morti- 
fication if, on the supposition of heirship, you pass 
through the Church and find that God never knew you 
as a child or heir ! This is a loss which figures cannot 
estimate ; this is a disappointment which eternity can- 
not repair. Examine your title now, then. Look it 
through; read it carefully. Is it your name that is 
written there, and are there any conditions, omis- 
sions, or flaws in the conveyance that shall weaken, 
peril, or destroy the claim? Especially be sure that 
the whole is not a deceit and forgery. The Evil One 
meets travellers to the heavenly country and palms 
upon them a false writing, a fictitious title, if he can. 
Examine yours. Does it bear the superscription and 
seal of God? Is it a genuine document? Is there no 
question about it? Can you be sure that you are a 
child and heir? 

Now, supposing the will has been examined, has 
passed through probate, and our claim is good; 
though very humble and very thankful, can we help 
being full of joy? We have only guesses now. "It 
doth not yet appear what we shall be ; " but we know 
enough to know that such an inheritance, promised 
now and soon to be entered on, should lift us above 
gloom. Observe the logic of the hymn : — 

" When I can read my title clear 
To mansions in the skies, 
I '11 bid farewell to every fear 
And wipe my weeping eyes." 

And are we not convinced that a " clear title " ought 
to be opposed to " weeping eyes " ? 



220 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



" Why should the children of a king 
Go mourning all their days ? " 

If that is your inheritance, and you have the pledge 
of it in your hand, is it possible that anything can dis- 
tress you ? See, " all things are yours." That is writ- 
ten in the will. The " thousand-fold " is coming by 
and by. Away, then, with words of complaint, sad- 
dened countenances, and weeping eyes. Look above ! 
look above ! Behold the many mansions ; see the 
temple and the worshippers; listen to the harpers 
and their song; and rejoice that to that place and 
company you will come by and by. 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



" Life," says Seneca, " is a voyage, in the progress of which 
we are perpetually changing our scenes ; we first leave childhood 
behind us, then youth, then the years of ripened manhood, then 
the better and more pleasing part of old age." The perusal of 
this passage having excited in me a train of reflections on the 
state of man, the incessant fluctuation of his wishes, the gradual 
change of his disposition to all external objects, and the thought- 
lessness with which he floats upon the stream of time, I sunk 
into a slumber amidst my meditations, and on a sudden found 
my ears filled with the tumult of labor, the shouts of alacrity, the 
shrieks of alarm, the whistle of winds, and the dash of waters, 

Samuel Johnson. 



XVI. 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 

A nd when the sotith wind blew softly, supposing that they had 
obtained their purpose, loosing thence they sailed close by 
Crete. But not long after there arose against it a tempes- 
tuous wind called Euroclydon. — Acts xxvii. 13. 

THE story of Paul's shipwreck we are familiar 
with. Accused by the Jews before Festus the 
Governor, he appealed unto Caesar the Emperor. 
He demanded a change of venue for his trial. This 
he had a right to do as a Roman citizen. His case 
then had to be removed from Caesarea to Rome. 
He had long wished to visit Rome, and had actually 
planned to do so. Before the narrative of the ship- 
wreck we read : " Paul purposed in the spirit when he 
had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to 
Jerusalem, saying, After I have been there, I must 
also see Rome." So anxious was he to make this 
visit that he wrote about it and prayed about it. In 
his letter to the Romans he says : " For God is my 
witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of 
His Son, that without ceasing I make mention of you 
always in my prayers; making request, if by any 
means now at length I might have a prosperous 



224 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



journey by the will of God to come unto you." He 
little thought his prayer was to be answered in just 
this way. His journey was hardly a " prosperous " 
one ; but he took it, while his travelling expenses were 
paid by the State. 

Embarking at Csesarea he was carried in a coasting- 
vessel to Myra, a city of Lycia, and there transferred 
to a ship bearing a cargo of wheat from Alexandria to 
Rome. The story of the awful peril and wreck thrills 
us. It is probable if it had not been for the pres- 
ence of Paul, and he a prisoner, every person on 
board that vessel would have perished. The wicked 
do not always know how much they owe to the 
righteous. 

Arriving at Crete, the island in the Mediterranean 
now called Candia, it was Paul's advice that they 
should winter there, " because the fast was already 
past; " that is, because the time of observing the 
fast was past, or the season of the year had come 
when " sailing was now dangerous." The fast referred 
to was held in the Jewish month Tisri, corresponding 
to our September and October. It was therefore the 
time for the autumnal equinox, or when equinoctial 
storms prevail. " After the fast," says an ancient 
writer, " nobody thought of putting to sea." We 
know the story. Paul's advice was not taken. They 
sailed on. " But not long after there arose against it," 
or there swept down from the island, " a tempestuous 
wind called Euroclydon." The word " Euroclydon " is 
composed of two Greek words which mean wind and 
wave. It means a wave-stirrer, and is equivalent to 
our word hurricane or tornado. Now they see that 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



225 



Paul was right; for no small tempest lay on them, and 
all hope of being saved was taken away. But Paul 
stood in the midst of them and spake words of cheer; 
reminded them that they should have listened to him, 
but says, " There shall be no loss of any mans life t 
among you, but of the ship." And so it proved ; for 
after fourteen days and nights of peril, fasting, and 
terror, they struck upon an island, Melita, now Malta, 
and casting themselves into the sea, those who could 
swim by swimming, and the rest, some on boards, 
and some on broken pieces of the ship, escaped all 
safe to land. So dearly did they pay for not taking 
Paul's advice, and for being deceived by that south 
wind blowing softly. 

There are voyagers at the present day, — voyagers 
on the sea of life, and as then so now there is many a 
south wind blowing softly that beguiles men to ruin. 
It was a fine conception of the artist Cole to represent 
on canvas the four periods in the " voyage of life." 
First comes Childhood, — a cherub boy with laughing 
eyes and sunny ringlets, sitting in his little bark amid 
a profusion of flowers, and floating along over a 
peaceful stream, he knows not whither, while all the 
objects of Nature on the banks and around are 
wrought like tropic scenes into their richest forms 
and gayest colorings. Next we have Youth, ■ — a 
young man with form erect and countenance beaming 
with hope and earnestness, the hour-glass of time on 
the prow before him, his eyes looking up and his hand 
stretched out toward a dim, misty, but magnificent 
temple that floats in the clouds above him. On the 
right bank stands an angel form with wings extended, 



226 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



a halo encircling the head, and hand upraised, point- 
ing as the angel of hope to that temple of Fame. The 
stream, we notice, is not so sluggish as before, and the 
scenery not so gorgeous in its character. Next is 
Manhood, with knit brow and earnest purpose, and 
intense anxiety pictured in the countenance. The 
stream flows now over a rocky bed, and dashes and 
foams with greatest precipitancy. It seems every 
moment as if the bark would be engulfed, while all 
the objects around are sobered into their most som- 
bre lineaments. Finally comes Old Age, with bowed 
form, sitting where Infancy sat. The hour-glass is 
transferred to the other end of the vessel, and Time 
guides the old man placidly to his rest. Yes, we are 
all voyagers on the sea of life. Much there is to 
deceive us ; many are the dangers we encounter, and 
many are the wrecks which line the coast and prove 
the peril of the way. 

Some of these wrecks let us notice. First, there is 
the wreck of human hopes. Well may the poet sing 
of the " Pleasures of Hope." Nor is there a more po- 
tent influence or principle in the soul of man. The 
Scriptures affirm that we are saved by hope. But 
powerful as is this principle, it is doomed to disap- 
pointment. Never are the dreams of childhood real- 
ized, never are the expectations of youth fulfilled. 
In life's gay morning how promising everything ap- 
pears ; through what a long bright vista does the 
eye gaze ! But how soon is the fairest sky overcast, 
and the lesson taught that " man was made to 
mourn " ! Rachel weeps for her children because 
they are not; orphaned children cry for a father's 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



227 



care and a mother's love, but cry in vain ; the hopeful 
scholar feels the workings of genius within him, but 
disease fastens upon him and he is seen no more ; the 
ambitious man aspires to place and power, but fates 
and fortunes snatch his honors and place them upon 
the head of another; the earnest worker toils for 
wealth, but, like one who gathers waters in a sieve, 
toils in vain. Such is the common fate ; and hence life 
seems like a sea that bears upon its bosom the wrecks 
of mighty ships shattered in battle, or a coast upon 
whose rocky breast a whole fleet has been dashed by 
a mighty tempest. Take the life of any man, and 
what is it but a series of hopes and disappointments? 
Castle-building is begun in childhood and perpetuated 
through life. Plans are formed and frustrated, to be 
followed by new plans again. Expectation is ever on 
tiptoe, reaching after object upon object with which 
she either is not satisfied or which she never attains. 
Much is promised, but little is realized. As many 
times as the wind blows softly from the south, Eurocly- 
don is sure to follow. And it is well that it is so. 
Providence never designed that man should cast the 
anchor of his hope in this world ; it must enter into 
that within the veil ; it must reach into eternity. It is 
essential to the discipline of life, it is peculiar to our 
probation state, to have our earthly hopes blasted, that 
we may gain an interest in a world where loss and 
disappointment never come. The scholar must fail 
of the laureate crown that he may gain the heavenly ; 
the merchantman must lose the goodly pearl that he 
may obtain one that is of great price; the parent 
must see his home-circle rent, that he may follow 



228 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



the lamb to the heavenly pastures. Many must be 
our trials, great our tribulations ; for so we enter into 
life. 

Notice, secondly, wrecks of earthly friendships. 
How many begin life together, like ships starting out 
of the same port, but end it far apart and in circum- 
stances widely different. Look at that class of boys 
upon the same bench in the schoolroom. They study 
the same lessons, and are drawn to one another with 
the most cordial affection. But what a change do a 
few years make with them ! One is raised to a judge's 
bench, another enters the pulpit, another settles in a 
foreign land, another falls into dishonorable courses, 
another sinks into a youthful grave. All are scattered, 
and even faces and names fade from view. In their 
childish simplicity they thought they would always 
love as then, and even pledged their word ; but in a 
few years they meet as strangers, and the traces of 
those early ties and vows have gone like promises 
written in water. School-days were the south wind 
blowing softly; Euroclydon is the fierce experience 
of life. See, too> how families are sometimes dis- 
parted. Who could believe, looking upon sleeping 
innocents, their arms thrown carelessly over each 
other, or seeing them sporting together around their 
parent's knee, that they should ever come to hate, 
mistrust, or harm each other? Yet brothers some- 
times sink into lasting enmity, and none become more 
bitter in their hate than they. So husbands and wives 
sometimes fall apart. What numberless cases of di- 
vorce ! How sad the history of households blasted 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



229 



by crime ! And, in general, how fickle and uncertain 
are these ties of earth ! Death may snatch away our 
loved ones ; time and place may lead others to forget 
us, and even slightest causes may sever hearts that 
were knit as one. A poet writes : — 

" Alas ! how light a cause may move 
Dissension between hearts that love ! — 
Hearts that the world in vain has tried, 
And sorrow but more closely tied ; 
That stood the storm when waves were rough, 
Yet in a sunny hour fall off, 
Like ships that have gone down at sea 
When heaven was all tranquillity." 

But in the fickleness of earthly loves we learn valuable 
lessons. Rest not here, says adversity in all its 
forms. Put not your confidence in man, says ill- 
requited love, for he is a selfish and ungrateful mortal. 
Look higher; trust in One better; seek the friendship 
of Him who sticketh closer than a brother. Let the 
Lord Jesus Christ be the object of your highest con- 
fidence and of your warmest love. He is true; He 
is constant; He will never disappoint you. 

Notice, next, wrecks of character. Alas ! that there 
should be such ; but how many there are ! In early 
life how softly does the south wind blow, drawing 
many out to sea ; but how soon does the Euroclydon 
of temptation fall fiercely upon them and they are 
swept away ! Here is a young man, gifted, bright. 
Hopes are built on him, his future is radiant with 
promise. But see, in his turgid countenance, red- 
dened eyes, diffident and uneasy manner, and late 



230 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



and irregular hours, evidence that he is already feeling 
the fury of the blast. Temptation is beating hard 
upon him ; evil companions, the wine-cup, and sinful 
pleasures are making a terrible onslaught upon him ; 
the mast of principle bends and creaks; the joints and 
seams of character are strained asunder; the anchor 
of pure affections and of self-respect parts its cable, 
and he is a total wreck. Here is another, — oh, can 
it be? — once the sweet babe, the innocent girl and 
blushing maiden ; but she knew not the seducers 
arts ; like our first mother she entertained the temp- 
ter, gave ear to words of blandishment, and before she 
knew it was in the serpent's grasp. With her warm, 
trusting heart she loved and was ruined : let that be 
her epitaph. How do the city streets abound with 
these wrecks of womanhood ! How do they come 
out after dark, like old hulks which the rising tide lifts 
out to sea ! There they are, flaunting in soiled tinsel 
and flash attire, the pictures of woe, the uncounted 
witnesses of man's falsity and the heart's degradation. 
Follow to the Bridge of Sighs ; hark ! there is a splash 
in the waters : — 

" One more unfortunate gone to her death . " 

So, too, the tempter steals into the peaceful sanctuary 
of home, and the loves and hopes and joys of that 
last little paradise become a ruin. Or it is in some 
other form that Euroclydon assails men. Cupidity is 
often the potent power. What cases of peculation, 
embezzlement, and frauds ! What a record of false 
entries, false returns, false signatures, and false stocks ! 
Now a great banker, now a railroad president or a 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



231 



United States treasurer goes down. How many clerks 
have been tempted by fast living to take money from 
their employers' drawer or to run the risks of gam- 
bling and forgery ! At first the temptation was slight ; 
the south wind blew softly; but the habit yielded to 
strengthened, and at last became a Euroclydon that 
stranded them forever. It is a common remark that 
no one falls into great crimes suddenly. It is the 
gentle breezes that beguile them till they have gone 
so far that they can neither turn back nor go forward. 
It is said of a distinguished painter that in early life 
he met with a child whose countenance was so much 
the picture of innocence that he transferred it to can- 
vas and hung it up in his studio as a thing of beauty 
and inspiration for his eye to rest upon. Many years 
after the thought struck him that he would paint a 
picture just the opposite in its character ; and so, find- 
ing a poor wretch upon the street, with matted hair, 
besotted countenance, and ragged and filthy garments, 
he painted his likeness and hung it up in contrast with 
the other. But what was his surprise to learn that he 
had painted pictures of the same person ; the im- 
bruted man was the angelic child. Likenesses may 
not be taken, but there is many a life whose two ends 
present as wide a contrast. Let me urge the young 
to guard against the blandishments and enticements 
of sin. Think not because the south wind blows 
softly that you shall make a prosperous voyage. 
Listen to better counsels ; winter where it is safe ; 
yield to no temptation ; learn to say No ; cultivate 
sincerity; practise virtue; be sober, temperate, hon- 
est, true. 



232 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Notice, next, wrecks of civil governments. And 
how many of these there have been ! Read the his- 
tory of nations, and see all down the shores of time 
the ruins of monarchies, empires, kingdoms, and re- 
publics lining the way. Some had an ephemeral 
existence; some lasted long; some went to pieces 
by their own weight ; some were wrecked by incom- 
petent masters ; some were destroyed by faction, by 
passion or intrigue; some foundered by natural de- 
cay. But they are gone, and nought remains but the 
ruins inwrought into other structures, or the story of 
their being on the historian's page. Let the ancient 
Jewish nationality, the history of Assyria and Babylon, 
of Greece and of Rome, the multiform governments 
of Italy, of France, and of Mexico speak upon this 
subject. As another writes : " Is not the history of 
the nations hitherto sufficiently sad? Is not their wail 
over their own perished hopes of greatness in all the 
past, which has been in every nation but a mass of 
broken hopes and broken hearts, long enough and 
deep enough to fill the most vacant ear with its weight 
of woe? A true picture of the angel of humanity 
standing and looking in mute survey over the desola- 
tions of ages, would be in every land but a mourning 
Rachel weeping over her children and refusing to be 
comforted because they are not. And, as in ancient 
fable Niobe was represented as metamorphosed into 
stone, and yet even then shedding tears over her 
offspring which had been slain, so to a true inter- 
preter of the silent hills as they stand in quiet majesty 
around the vales and cities of the Old World they 
seem to be ever looking down in still, stony grief upon 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



233 



the wrecks of human fate and fortune that they have 
witnessed. . . . Hard indeed must his heart be, 
who can look over the great sepulchral fields of 
national ruin for six thousand years, and feel no deep 
pity for mankind, no wonder at their follies, and no 
admiration at God's amazing patience toward the 
race ! Harder than the heart of Xerxes, who in all 
his gorgeous vanity yet wept to think that of that 
vast multitude which stood before him not one would 
be alive at the end of a hundred years to remember 
him or them ! Caius Marius, that man who, though 
of stern and iron heart, sat, himself a fugitive, 
with tearful eyes amid the ruins of Carthage medi- 
tating on all its wide waste of splendor, is no inapt 
image of the picture which the Muse of History pre- 
sents to every thoughtful mind as she lays by her pen 
and sits down to recall to her own thoughts the 
lessons of sword and fire and sorrow which she has 
recounted unto others." 

Can it be that our own nation is to follow in the 
same sad line ? Are we also to become a wreck ? That 
evils threaten there can be no doubt. We think that 
our Government is the best that ever existed, and 
doubtless it is. Yet God is ever teaching us lessons 
of humility and fear. We have passed through sad 
experiences, terrible conflicts, and great perils, and 
God has been with us in them. We must not presume, 
and do wickedly ; but still " do justly, love mercy, 
and walk humbly with our God," if we would not have 
the fate of other nations overtake us. We have no 
assurance of security and continuance only as we obey 
the laws of God. " The nation and kingdom that will 



234 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER 



not serve God shall perish." We are in danger of 
self-confidence; the spirit of faction and self-seeking 
has become rampant; mammonism is a besetting sin; 
great frauds have become common ; misrule has 
broken out in some parts of the country ; immigra- 
tion threatens ; Mormonism, as a national sore, is not 
stanched; the saloons are defiant; vice abounds; 
infidelity is prevalent; and politicians are very cor- 
rupt. When President W oolsey was interviewed with 
regard to questions of public interest, and was asked 
what he thought of the " spoils system," he replied : 
" The present is the meanest kind of political system 
in the world. It has grown to be an evil of great 
magnitude, degrading politics and destroying the 
efficiency of the public service." When asked, "Do 
you think there is more corruption in the country 
now than there was in the early days of the Repub- 
lic? " he replied : " I do, both among public men and 
private citizens. This bribery of representatives of 
the people, either by the direct use of money or by 
the use of patronage, has been practised to an alarm- 
ing extent, and the purchase of votes is a great evil." 
" I cannot conceive of Washington's tolerating the 
spoils system, nor of our sturdy forefathers buying 
or their workmen's selling votes ; and there evidently 
is more corruption in politics now than formerly." 
When asked, "Do you agree with Lord Macaulay in 
his famous prophecy that when we have two hundred 
inhabitants to the square mile the country will go to ruin, 
corruption wrecking the Government?" he replied: 
" I do not know that the number of inhabitants to the 
square mile has anything to do with it. Our peril 



THE VOYAGE OF LIFE. 



235 



from corruption is great, but on the whole I am hope- 
ful for the future of the Republic. If it is preserved 
it will be through the influence of religion and the 
schools. . . . No nation on earth has greater oppor- 
tunities than ours, but few have greater perils to meet. 
Therefore our future is to be regarded with mingled 
hope and anxiety." Here are some of the views of 
a distinguished publicist with regard to some of the 
perils that threaten us. Whether we shall come out 
of these perils, or go down as a magnificent wreck, 
God only knows. 

Finally, the greatest of all wrecks is the wreck of 
the soul. It is more to be deprecated than the wreck 
of human hopes and friendships, the loss of charac- 
ter, — for by repentance even the outcast may be 
saved, — or the total destruction of all the govern- 
ments on the earth. Oh, with how precious a cargo 
is every human being freighted who launches his 
vessel upon the sea of life ! More precious is it than 
all the treasures of India or the gold mines of Peru. 

" What is the thing of greatest price 
The whole creation round ? — 
That which was lost in paradise, 
That which in Christ is found. 

M The soul of man, Jehovah's breath, 
That keeps two worlds at strife ; 
Hell moves beneath to work its death, 
Heaven stoops to give it life. 

" God to reclaim it did not spare 
His well-beloved Son ; 
Jesus to save it deigned to bear 
The sins of all in one. 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



" And is this treasure borne below 
In earthly vessels frail ? 
Can none its utmost value know 
Till flesh and spirit fail ? 

" Then let us gather round the cross, 
This knowledge to obtain, — 
Not by the soul's eternal loss, 
But everlasting gain." 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 



Ought not parents to ask their children what they have 
gleaned from the sermons which they have heard, the books 
which they have read, and the conversation they have joined in? 
May we not ask ourselves the same question ? He that would 
increase in wisdom must be always thus gleaning, and call him- 
self frequently to account respecting it; determining if possible 
to get some profitable hint from every person and occurrence. 

Thomas Scott. 



XVII. 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 
Where hast thou gleaned to-day ? — Ruth ii. 19. 

THIS is what Naomi said to Ruth when she came 
in from the field. To us the field is the world. 
Indeed there are many fields, in one of which each of 
us may be said to be gleaning. I come to you then 
with Naomi's question, " Where hast thou gleaned 
to-day?" 

Let us look at these fields. 

1. See, here is the field of pleasure. This is the 
field in which Solomon planted his vineyards and 
made his gardens and orchards and pools of water. 
Here he brought together his treasures of silver and 
gold, and built great works, and gat him men-singers 
and women-singers, and the delights of the sons of 
men. Here he gave himself to wine, and laid hold 
on folly, and said, " Go to now ; I will prove thee with 
mirth ; therefore enjoy pleasure." " Whatsoever mine 
eyes desired," he says, "I kept not from them. I 
withheld not my heart from any joy." 

Into this field immense numbers enter. It is the 
most attractive. It is a field where the senses are ad- 
dressed. Here every kind of indulgence has its seat ; 
the sinful heart seeks nothing which it cannot find. 



240 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Taste, appetite, and passion are fully gratified. Over 
the gateway to this field the words might be placed, 
as descriptive of all who enter here, — " Lovers of 
pleasure more than lovers of God." Here stands the 
enchantress of whom one writes : — 

" Pleasure her name ; good name, 
Though ill applied. 

Of comely form she was, and fair of face ; 

And underneath her eyelids sat a kind 

Of witching sorcery that nearer drew 

Whoever with unguarded look beheld. 

Ten thousand times, as if unconscious still 

Of inward blame, she stood and waved her hand 

And pointed to her bower, and said to all 

Who passed, ' Take yonder flowery path, my steps 

Attend ; I lead the smoothest way to heaven ; 

This world receive as surety for the next.' " 

Perhaps it is into this field that you have entered, and 
it is here where you are gleaning. Let me remind you 
then that " he that liveth in pleasure is dead while he 
liveth." Let me recall to you Solomon's experience, 
who, having enjoyed every luxury and pleasure, turned 
from it with disgust, and closed his life crying, " Van- 
ity of vanities ; all is vanity ! " 

2. We turn next to the field of labor. Now the 
scene changes from festivity to toil. It is the field 
into which all who earn their bread must enter. It 
is in some sense a grand exposition, — a great world's 
fair. All industries, arts, and professions are repre- 
sented here. Farm, shop, factory, warehouse, office, 
store, here have their seats. All who enter here wear 
an anxious look. You read it in their faces, — " What 
shall we eat, and what shall we drink, and where- 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 24 1 

withal shall we be clothed?" Here men speak ear- 
nestly and step quickly; here the sweat of toil is 
seen; here the heavy sigh is heard. Early and late, 
through summer and winter, under cloud or sun, men 
seem intoxicated by a common excitement, driven by 
the same impulse, hurled to the same end. And the 
end which all are seeking is worldly gain. Here not 
only active enterprise has its seat, but mammon holds 
its court. Here not only industry has scope, but ava- 
rice finds devotees. Some are so eaten up by greed 
of wealth that they sacrifice integrity, principle, honor, 
their souls, indeed, to gain their end. In this field the 
miser hoards his pelf. 

"With vigilance and fasting worn to skin 
And bone, and wrapped in most debasing rags, 
Thou mightst have seen him bending o'er his heaps, 
And holding strange communion with his gold. 



Of all that sold eternity for time, 

None bargained on so easy terms with Death. 

Illustrious fool ! Nay, most inhuman wretch ! 

He sat among his bags, and with a look 

Which hell might be ashamed of, drove the poor 

Away unalmsed, and midst abundance died, — 

Sorest of evils ! died of utter want." 

Now to all earnest toilers there is a voice that says, 
" Labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that 
meat which endureth unto everlasting life." And to 
the men with whom money-getting is a passion the 
admonition is given: " Lay not up for yourselves 
treasures upon earth ; . . . but lay up for yourselves 
treasures in heaven." Ah, my friend, if it is in 

16 



242 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

this field that you are gleaning, it may be with you 
as it was with the man who thought to pull down his 
barns and build greater, and to whom God said, 
44 Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of 
thee; then whose shall those things be which thou 
hast provided?" It is not in wealth to satisfy the 
soul. Gather earth's best, gather much, gather all, 
and you have only brought home husks and straw 
for your soul to feed upon. Could you become " pos- 
sessor of the world " and " call the stars your own," 
without the favor and friendship of God you would 
be a "wretch undone." How impressive the words 
which we may suppose to be written all around us, — 
on every bale of goods, on every loaded dray, on 
every moving car, over every store door, and on every 
bank vault: "What is a man profited if he shall gain 
the whole world and lose his own soul? or what shall 
a man give in exchange for his soul? " 

3. Now we look on the field of glory. In this field 
the Temple of Fame is situated. Here is where am- 
bition vaults itself and honor holds high court. Here 
is where what men call distinction, greatness, power, 
belong and thrive as in their native soil and air. Here 
rank, office, titles, equipage, glitter as a prize. Along 
this avenue and through this gateway vast numbers 
are pressing. Statesmen, scholars, poets, artists, sol- 
diers, pass this way. In this temple kings have bowed 
to receive their crown, warriors the marshal's badge, 
and poets the garland of honor. Here have had 
a place the renowned for song, sculpture, painting. 
But mark you the appearance of those who have 
entered this field or are passing through this gate- 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 243 



way. There is an inward fire consuming them. Their 
looks tell you that they are not satisfied. Ask those 
who have gone the farthest, climbed the highest, and 
gained the most, and they tell you nothing satisfies. 
Hear Kirke White lamenting : — 

" How vain ambition ! Why has my wakeful lamp 
Outwatched the slow-paced night? Why on the page, 
The schoolman's labored page, have I employed 
The hours devoted by the world to rest, 
And needful to recruit exhausted nature ? 
Alas ! how vain are mortal man's desires ! 
How fruitless his pursuits ! Eternal God, 
Guide thou my footsteps in the way of truth, 
And oh, assist me so to live on earth, 
That I may die in peace, and claim a place 
In Thy high dwelling. All but this is folly, 
The vain illusions of deceitful life." 

So the unhappy Byron wrote : — 

" He who ascends to mountain-tops shall find 
The loftiest peaks most wrapt in clouds and snow ; 
He who surpasses or subdues mankind 
Must look down on the hate of those below. 
Though high above, the sun of glory glow, 
And far beneath, the earth and ocean spread, 
Round him are icy rocks, and loudly blow 
Contending tempests on his naked head, 
And thus reward the toils which to those summits led." 

If this is the testimony of men who are allowed to 
have been successful aspirants, what folly in lesser 
men to seek that prize ! Ah, my friends, it is the 
good who are truly great ! He is the highest honored, 
who is honored of God. Earth's prizes wither, earth's 
monuments crumble; but he whose highest ambition 



244 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



is to serve God and be Christlike, shall gain more 
than a tablet in a wall or a monument in a park ; he 
shall become a pillar in the temple of his God, and 
shall go no more out; and God will write upon him 
His new name. 

4. We notice next the field of unbelief. Here all 
is dark and dismal ; the atmosphere is cold ; the 
ground is barren ; bleak rocks tower aloft and heavy 
clouds obscure the sky. It is such a place as was 
sought by the demoniac who " was always night and 
day in the mountains and in the tombs crying and 
cutting himself with stones." Here no God is acknowl- 
edged, no Sabbath is sanctified, no Christ is adored. 
Here reason is defied, and fate and chance bear sway. 
Here " Doubting Castle " is situated, and the doubters 
walk this way. The number is small, for men crave 
something fairer, warmer, brighter. Yet a few seek 
these solitudes proclaiming themselves atheists, de- 
manding a sign and boasting of wisdom. Here the 
philosopher Hume enters, scouting at miracles and 
denying the doctrine of Divine Providence. Here 
Bolingbroke pens his " Letters upon History," and 
mocks at revealed religion. Here Volney writes on 
the " Ruins of Empires," and carps at the Sacred 
Record. Here Thomas Paine lays down his " Age of 
Reason " as an offering to the unknown God. Here 
the maddened Voltaire hurls his anathemas at the 
blessed Saviour and cries, " Crush the wretch !" Here 
the German pantheists ventilate their philosophy and 
call matter God. Here the English evolutionists argue 
profoundly on the survival of the fittest, and try to 
show that man is the descendant of an ape. Here 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 24$ 

the American Ingersoll flashes and flames with demo- 
niac rage, and seems like one escaped from the pit. 
It is a deadly atmosphere that these men breathe, and 
dreadful is their end. See Hume on his death-bed, 
uttering idle jests, ridiculing his condition, and in the 
very hour of his demise playing at dominos. See 
Bolingbroke distinguished principally in his twenty- 
third year as an accomplished libertine, passing through 
various fortunes, and dying of a long and dreadful 
disease. See Volney out on Lake Erie in a violent 
storm, losing all fear of ridicule, and despite his phi- 
losophy falling on his knees and with upraised hands 
and streaming eyes crying, " O my God, my God ! 
What shall I do? " And when rallied for this by one 
less in fear with the remark, " Well, Mr. Volney, you 
seem to have a God now," replying in the greatest 
agitation, " Oh, yes; oh, yes! " See Paine in his de- 
bauchery and filth, forsaken of his friends, tortured 
in body and mind, dying horribly, and then having 
his grave rifled, his dust scattered, and his bones pro- 
faned. See Voltaire drinking the wine-cup of the 
wrath of God this side the pit, and causing the nurse 
that tended him to say that for all the wealth of 
Europe she would not see another infidel die. 

I ask, Is it into this field that you have come, and 
is it here that you are gleaning? Is it such com- 
panionship that you seek? Is it the writings of men 
like these that you read? Is it their sentiments that 
you imbibe? Or, if you have not entered far into this 
field, have you not taken some steps in it? Do not 
dark thoughts sometimes cross your mind? Do you 
not puzzle yourself with things too high for you? 



246 



LTVIXG FOR THE MASTER. 



Do you not doubt and question, half believe in 
chance and fate, and show more vexation because sin 
exists than anxiety to be rid of it? Is not your life 
practically atheistic? Are you not walking in the 
counsel of the ungodly, even if you are not standing 
in the way of sinners nor sitting in the seat of the 
scornful? My friend, I warn you to keep out of this 
field. Pass not through the gateway over whose arch- 
way God has written, " He that believeth shall be 
saved, but he that believeth not shall be damned." 

5. We behold lastly the field of faith. It is in 
this field that Christian in the ' 1 Pilgrim's Progress " 
walked. Here is the wicket gate through which he 
tracked his way up to the celestial city. Here is 
Mount Moriah, where Abraham came with his son 
Isaac and earned the title, " Father of the Faithful." 
Here is Carmel, where Elijah prayed, and discovered 
the rising cloud of promise. Here is Pisgah, where 
Moses climbed and saw the green fields on the other 
side of Jordan. Here is where David swept his harp 
and poured out his soul in song. Here is where 
Christ walked ; here is Calvary, the cross, and Jo- 
seph's tomb. Here is where the pious in all ages have 
sojourned prior to their removal to a better sphere, 
having obtained a good report through faith. This 
is the field in which the only satisfying portion of 
the soul is found. Gather elsewhere, and you gather 
pain and trouble. Gather here, and your flowers will 
never wither, your garners never fail. Does your 
wearied heart like Noah's dove long for rest? Would 
you find a sweet satisfaction in all that Heaven ap- 
points? Do you desire a balm for every sorrow and 



WHERE HAST THOU GLEANED TO-DAY? 247 



a solace for every pain? Would you be filled with 
strength and courage, peace and comfort, hope and 
joy? You must look for these here. These are the 
fruits of faith. And would you garner treasures for 
the skies ; would you lay up for the life before you ; 
would you have the assurance that heaven is to be 
your final rest and eternal home, you must get that 
assurance here. Truly may we sing : — 

"The men of grace have found 
Glory begun below : 
Celestial fruits on earthly ground 
From faith and hope may grow. 

"The hill of Zion yields 

A thousand sacred sweets 
Before we reach the heavenly fields 
Or walk the golden streets. 

" Then let our songs abound, 
And every tear be dry ; 
We 're marching through Immanuel's ground 
To fairer worlds on high." 

Happy the man who enters this field ! Blest is his 
society, joyful are his labors, glorious is his destiny. 

These, then, are the fields in one of which particu- 
larly each of us is gleaning. I put the question then 
with which I began: Where hast thou gleaned to-day? 
What sheaves have you gathered? What fruit have 
you brought home? My friend, you are gathering 
what you have sown. And you shall gather at no 
distant day what you are sowing now and shall yet 
sow. It is an important question, " What shall the 
harvest be?" Reason teaches and a Divine voice 



248 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



asserts that " whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh, shall of 
the flesh reap corruption ; but he that soweth to the 
Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting." 

" Sown in the darkness or sown in the light, 
Sown in our weakness or sown in our might, 
Gathered in time or eternity, 
Sure, ah, sure will the harvest be." 

Sow, then, to the Spirit. Let your toiling and your 
reaping be in the field of faith. Fellowship with those 
whose life is a true and earnest one. Make the most 
of your opportunities. Work while the day lasts ; and 
by and by you shall come up from the field rejoicing, 
bringing golden sheaves, and singing your " Harvest 
Home." 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



The person of the Lord Jesus is the very foundation of Chris- 
tianity. He is its source and its support. He is its embodiment. 
As well take the Sun from our system as Christ from Chris- 
tianity. Philosophy can exist apart from the philosopher, Sci- 
ence from the scientist, Art from the artist ; but not so 
Christianity. Platonism may remain though Plato may be him- 
self forgotten; Astronomy may remain though Newton or La- 
place may not once reappear in the student's memory, and so 
of all human systems ; but Christianity without Christ evan- 
ishes as intellectual vapor, and becomes alike powerless and 
unprofitable. 

William Fraser. 



XVIII. 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



Nevertheless, the foundation of God standcth sure. — 2 Tim. ii. 19. 
rTIHE foundation is everything. When a church 



was built near my residence at the West, great 
precaution was exercised to make the foundation sure. 
In that soft prairie soil there was danger of settling ; 
and so for many days a mechanical appliance was 
used and the power of steam employed to drive large 
stakes into the ground where the heavy weight would 
rest. I remember a large double building that, after 
it had reached the topmost story and was almost com- 
pleted, was in serious danger of falling. Signs of 
settling were discovered in it; it began to lean and 
show weakness. There it stood with its massive stone 
front, and yet like a drunken man it had to be propped 
and braced to keep it standing. It was said that there 
was quicksand below, and that there was not sufficient 
care in laying the first stones. It is a general prin- 
ciple, — if you do not start right, the most substantial 
superstructure will show weakness and give way. Let 
your foundation be bad, and you may brace, and 
mend, and patch, but the grinning seams and joints 
will seem to say, "The difficulty is below; bad start- 
ing; poor foundation." It is sometimes said, " A bad 




252 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



beginning makes a good ending." That is a fallacy; 
it is said in the way of comfort; it is not true, unless 
it means that the ending implies starting anew. If 
you leave the bad elements in they will trouble you 
for aye. It is so in character and everything. Hence 
we try to start right with children. We sink these 
golden piles of Bible truth into their soft hearts, and 
thus form a basis for the subsequent upbuilding. 
People who think it foolish to teach children the 
Catechism, and to take great pains to fill their minds 
and hearts with Scripture texts, might as well — might 
a great deal better — insist that piles under a church 
tower or a massive building are an absurdity. 

The text affirms, " The foundation of God standeth 
sure." The Church of the living God, the gospel of 
Christ, the religion of the Bible, has no uncertain 
foundation. It is common to liken the Church to a 
building: " And are built upon the foundation of the 
apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the 
chief corner-stone." " For other foundation can no 
man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ." To 
the text the words are added, " Having this seal," or 
inscription, "The Lord knoweth them that are His. 
And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ 
depart from iniquity." With us men put their names 
over their store doors or on the top of their buildings ; 
God puts His name upon the foundation. Our build- 
ings consume ; but that which is reared on God's 
foundation stands. The religion of Christ has a basis 
broad as the universe and deep as the heart of God. 
In the counsels of eternity the plan of life was devised, 
and in the Infinite love and purpose the system of 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



253 



grace has been established. " Behold I lay in Zion a 
chief corner-stone." The great temple is going up, 
and shall continue to rise till every living stone is set 
in his place, and the mountain of the Lord's house 
shall be established in the top of the mountains. The 
Bible gives us the plans and specifications of the great 
structure and reveals to us the thoughts of God. 

You are aware that we are living in critical times. 
It is hardly to be expected in this age of discovery, 
improvement, and progress, when there is so much to 
agitate society, that the Church should not be moved. 
The Church is not simply a lighthouse against whose 
base the waves dash; it is also a munition of rocks 
that challenges the most violent assaults. From the 
beginning of the Christian era the Church has been 
warred upon. Every method of warfare has been 
tried, ■ — open resistance, sapping and mining, pre- 
tended friendship, all kinds of arms, and every device 
of war. At first persecution assailed the Church ; then 
the State took it up and pampered it; then super- 
stition and formalism weighed it down. Unbelief has 
ever carried on a kind of Indian or guerilla warfare, 
striking in unexpected quarters, or shooting its darts 
and picking off here and there a leader in the ranks. 
Back in Paul and Timothy's time there were Hyme- 
neus and Philetus, who denied the resurrection, or said 
that it was past already, and overthrew the faith of 
some. But Paul, with his eye on these men and the 
defection they occasioned, writes, " Nevertheless the 
foundation of God standeth sure." So we, looking at 
the assaults of the past or of the present, can say the 
same. We must not be alarmed at what we witness ; 



254 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



we must not fall into a panic of unbelief, and be- 
cause infidelity is rife and materialism is rampant, 
because some eminent scientists reject revelation, and 
some religious teachers have doubts concerning inspi- 
ration, and teach rationalism, and rank Christianity 
with Buddhism, conclude that the Church is about to 
give way. It excites fear to witness a tremendous 
freshet, to see the masses of ice or the uprooted trees 
come thundering down, dashing against the abutments 
or grinding along the piers on which the overarching 
bridge is supported ; but where the foundation is good 
and the work right they will spend their fury in vain, 
and by and by the stream shall return to its own 
channels and the fields that had been submerged shall 
open their bosom to the sun and smile with a richer 
verdure. It is possible to give to objectors too much 
attention, and to encourage them in their opposition 
either by the exhibition of fear or by a painstaking 
effort to relieve their difficulties. They may call it 
dogmatism to adhere to our own beliefs, taking no 
notice of them, confiding in our own hopes, and rest- 
ing in our own convictions ; but that may be the best 
way to dislodge them from their fancied security. 
The effect of arguing with a disbeliever may be to 
strengthen and comfort him ; and then, the more you 
labor to convince him, the more you seem to appre- 
ciate his difficulties, the more you foster pride in his 
own reasoning and make him feel that he is deserving 
of this attention. Now, it is characteristic of Chris- 
tianity that " not many wise men after the flesh, not 
many mighty, not many noble are called." When a 
man of great learning rejects Christianity we may not 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



255 



dispute his learning; we find in him rather an argu- 
ment for Christianity, for he fulfils just what Chris- 
tianity affirms. It is quite provoking to be the proof 
of a thing that you are trying to disprove ; but so God 
confounds the wisdom of the wise, and makes not only 
foolish and weak things, but things that are not bring 
to nought things that are. It is highly important that 
religious teachers should be acquainted with all that is 
said on the other side ; but they should not give much 
study, strength, or time to answering these objections. 
It requires patience and time to listen to an oppo- 
nent's vagaries. If half the time be given to hearing 
objections and the other half to answering them, there 
will be no time left. Christianity must not be apolo- 
getic, defensive, but aggressive. It is not by foolish 
preaching, but by the foolishness of preaching that 
God is pleased to save them that believe. " The Jews 
require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom : but 
we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling- 
block, and unto the Greeks foolishness." That is it. 
That is what ministers are to preach, — Christ cruci- 
fied, even if it is to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to 
the Greeks foolishness. Nor is it wise to furnish 
young minds with speculative questions and infidel 
arguments. The one error that you state squarely 
with the purpose of answering it will stick in a child's 
mind, while the nine arguments by which you an- 
swered it will be forgotten. And further, while you 
are trying to convince and convert one adult sceptic 
who is a hard and skilful adversary, you might with 
less effort and in less time lead a dozen youth to 
Christ and prevent their becoming such sceptics. It 



2$6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



may gratify vanity to storm the strongest redoubts; 
but the most approved military skill says, " Strike at 
the weakest points, and pierce the line where the 
numbers and defences are feeblest." So, then, we say 
to the men who resolve the Scriptures into myths and 
allegories, who deny the existence of a personal God 
and also the existence of a personal devil, who do not 
believe in Providence or prayer, in sin or redemption, 
Fight away if you will against these mighty facts of 
revelation ; God will have you in derision, and while 
you resist and dispute in the fulness of your strength, 
thousands who are children in knowledge, or children 
literally, will press into the kingdom of heaven before 
you. We are not intimidated, for we know that God 
built the Church; He is its great architect; He laid 
its foundations ; He made them secure. " On this 
rock," said Jesus, " I will build My Church, and the 
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." Much, then, 
as infidelity abounds, much as we see that is terrifying 
to a weak faith, and that seems like a mighty torrent 
bearing along on its bosom the hopes of some whose 
house we thought secure, we can say with regard to 
our Christ and His Church, " Nevertheless the foun- 
dation of God standeth sure." The spirit of revival, 
and the large numbers that are brought to Christ by 
lay effort and by simple means, prove that the " old 
story" is that which men most need and care to hear. 
It is not the science of men's heads that is to be recti- 
fied, it is the wrong of their hearts. We must not 
disparage learning; somebody must have it; but it is 
evident that philosophical societies that puzzle them- 
selves with questions of science, and ministers who 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



257 



have not yet decided whether Jesus is a myth or a 
mere man, will have to work a long time before they 
save one soul ; while the simple story of the cross 
uttered earnestly from a warm and loving heart will 
neutralize atheism and multiply converts to Chris- 
tianity a thousand-fold. You see what you can do, 
men and women of the Church, when you work for 
Christ. Let the laity shame the ministry if they will. 
As Moses said, " Would God that all the Lord's peo- 
ple were prophets, and that the Lord would put His 
Spirit upon them." It is on the labors of church 
members more than on the dialectics of the pulpit 
that greatest reliance must be placed for the over- 
coming of irreligion and unbelief, and the ultimate 
establishment of Christianity throughout the earth. 
A well-known minister used these words, — and they 
are words that every one of us ought to be able to 
adopt, — " Jesus Christ is a more real person to me 
than George Washington. I know whom I have be- 
lieved, and I intend to hold on to Him ; if some min- 
isters turn infidels, and many deny the faith, and the 
storm beats very hard, I intend to hold on to Him, 
crying ' My Lord and my God ! ' I intend to pray Him 
to hold on to me, and in that way I shall be safe." 

The text says " the foundation of God standeth 
sure ; " and then the words are added, — " having this 
seal," or this inscription. You know it was cus- 
tomary to put seals or inscriptions on corner-stones, 
pillars, and door-posts. It was required of the Israel- 
ites that they should write the words of the law on the 
posts of their house and on their gates. The heavenly 
city is described as having " twelve foundations, and in 

17 



258 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb." 
The seal is used for security, is a mark of authority or 
genuineness, and when affixed to a foundation indicates 
the builder, or the design and character of the edifice. 
The great Architect in rearing His Church has set 
a seal on it, that shows whose it is, what it is, and 
what it is for. The language of the seal is this, — 
"The Lord knoweth them that are His;" and "Let 
every one that nameth the name of Christ depart 
from iniquity." The seal, you see, has two sides or 
two inscriptions ; here is the obverse, and here is the 
reverse. Or it is like a corner-stone, or a monument, 
on which we read on one side, " The Lord knoweth 
them that are His," and passing round read on the 
other side, " Let every one that nameth the name of 
Christ depart from iniquity." I like to see illumi- 
nated texts and religious inscriptions. It was quite 
natural that the Jews should write the words of the 
law on their gates and door-posts. A text teaches ; 
it is a teacher who never tires, whose voice never 
grows feeble. The Jews gave such conspicuity to 
their law that it might constantly be before them 
and admonish them, and that their children might 
become familiar with those divine teachings. There 
is danger that we shall teach neither through the ear 
nor the eye. Let us hang illuminated texts on the 
walls of our dwellings, and paint them on the walls 
of our churches ; but especially let us see that God's 
law is written on our own hearts and on the hearts of 
the children. 

We must dwell a little on this seal : this is the 
obverse, — " The Lord knoweth them that are His." 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



259 



That is a solemn truth. If you are the Lord's He 
knows you ; you cannot deceive Him ; you can deceive 
men ; you can get into the Church ; you can deceive 
yourself, and think you are a Christian ; but " the Lord 
knoweth them that are His." You may seem fair out- 
wardly ; you may do nothing manifestly out of the way, 
but you may have very wicked thoughts, or cover up 
much that is faulty in principle and practice, and yet 
you will be seen by God just as you are. The wheat 
and the tares look all the same to us, but He knows 
the difference. He may let you stand for the present, 
but the time of the harvest will come, and then will 
He say to His servants : " Gather ye together first 
the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them ; 
but gather the wheat into My barn." " The Lord 
knoweth them that are His." Then if I am His, 
He knows all about me ; He knows my weakness ; 
He knows my dangers ; He knows my wants ; He 
knows how much I try to serve Him, with what spirit 
I pray, what interest I feel, what sacrifices I make, 
how much I give, what I am doing. If I am faint 
and feeble, " He knoweth my frame," and He will not 
lay on me a burden greater than I can bear, a cross 
heavier than I can carry. Surely " the Lord knoweth 
them that are His." As a shepherd He knoweth His 
sheep ; He calleth them all by name. Stand, then, 
before this inscription ; meditate upon it; get out of it 
all the warning, encouragement, hope, comfort, and 
strength that you can. " The Lord knoweth them 
that are His." 

But we turn the seal, or pass to the other side, and 
now we read, "And let every one that nameth the 



260 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



name of Christ depart from iniquity." Ah, yes ! 
Men who profess Christ's name should be holy. Let 
them " depart from iniquity ; " let them put away sin 
in all its forms; let them guard their heart, their lips, 
their hands. Let their thoughts and behavior be such 
as God shall approve; let them live as those who 
make such professions and stand in such relations to 
God should live. If they are God's, and God knows 
them and loves them, how can they sin? There is a 
fitness in such an inscription. Are we to suppose 
that it was merely by accident that this was written ? 
Nothing could be better chosen. Believers resting on 
Christ, inscribed as His, bearing His name and pos- 
sessing His spirit, will not sin, — will not purposely 
and deliberately. When you read on the corner-stone 
of the spiritual temple such words as these, you 
understand that it was built by one who is opposed 
to evil, and that His object is to overcome sin and 
ultimately to banish it from the world. There is put 
into every believer's heart an expulsive principle that 
shall make sin less and less in him, and so make him 
fit to have a place in the growing and expanding 
Church of God. Believers are witnesses for God; and 
when men fall off and deny the faith, God can point 
to these and say, "Nevertheless, the foundation of 
God standeth sure." The holy life and the martyr 
spirit attest that there is a divine life and energy 
in the Church, and in the believer's heart, that 
men and devils cannot resist, repulse, or destroy. 
Times of great worldliness and unbelief are but 
a sifting process that determines the character of 
the foundation; who have built on Christ and who 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. 



26l 



have not; who are on the rock and who are on the 
sand. 

Now, dear friends, if we have built on Christ, let us 
not be disturbed because other men's houses tumble. 
Let us not gratify others by digging down to see if 
we are safe, because they tell us that our Bible is a 
human production, and our Christ was only a clever 
man. We must be sure we are on the rock first, and 
then abide there, not timid and fearful lest somebody 
shall discover that we are the victims of a misplaced 
confidence. It will be time enough to part with our 
Bible and our Christ when men give us something in 
their place that will make us better and happier while 
we live, and that will comfort us more in dying. On 
the front page of an infidel book the writer says : " I 
have never desired nor do I now desire to disturb the 
contentment or the faith of any one. But where 
these are already shaken, I desire to point out the 
direction in which I believe a firmer soil is to be 
found." Referring to this book and its author, 
another says : " He discards Christ, declares Chris- 
tianity a misnomer, and repudiates what religion all the 
people mistakenly calling themselves Christians pro- 
fess. What does he offer instead? The spontaneous 
generation of life ! No God, no spirituality, no heaven, 
no immortality; pure unadulterated materialism. For 
society, police regulations based on selfishness. For 
the soul, the heart, the mind, vague unrest. This is 
what he calls ' the firmer soil ' for those whose faith 
is shaken ! The quoted sentence on the titlepage 
should read : ' I have never desired nor do I now 
desire to disturb the contentment or the faith of any 



262 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



one. But where these are already shaken, I can 
promise to lead to a path in which the soil is much 
less firm and which terminates in a morass of black 
and terrible doubt.' " Thus you see, if you give your- 
self up to these blind guides, where they will lead 
you. My friends, if you are building on any other 
foundation than that of which the text speaks I en- 
treat you to see and correct your mistake at once. 
" For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, 
which is Jesus Christ." " This is the stone which was 
set at nought of you builders, which is become the 
head of the corner. Neither is there salvation in any 
other : for there is none other name under heaven 
given among men whereby we must be saved." Oh, 
blessed name ! blessed name ! 

Newman Hall relates an incident as follows : — 

"I know of a case of a merchant in London who was 
deeply impressed with his sinfulness and his need of salva- 
tion, and he was laboring earnestly to be saved. He altered 
his outward conduct ; he began to read religious service, and 
regularly went to his church ; but be could not find peace. 
He tried to put himself through certain mental and spiritual 
exercises ; still it was all in vain. The burden on his con- 
science seemed to become heavier, his sorrow and grief 
deeper and yet more deep. While he was in this state of 
distress he was walking one day along one of the thorough- 
fares of the city of London, across a bridge over a canal, at 
the end of which, in a spot where traffic could not be inter- 
rupted, a blind man was accustomed to sit and read from a 
raised Bible, — that wonderful invention by which the blind 
can read. He was sitting there reading out loud, receiving 
pence from the passengers who chose ' to help a poor blind 



THE FOUNDATION SURE. , 263 

man.' As this gentleman passed he saw a crowd ; he went 
up to the edge of the crowd to see what was going on, and 
as he stood upon that spot the blind man was reading this 
verse : ' Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is 
none other name.' He came to the bottom of the page, and 
as he was turning over he repeated it as one does when he 
cannot find the place, — ' None other name, — none other 
name.' This gentleman walked on about his business, but he 
could not forget the words that he had heard : ' None other 
name, — none other name.' On he went, and still the words 
were sounding in his mind : ' None other name, — none 
other name.' Through the bustle of the day the still small 
voice kept repeating : ' None other name, — none other 
name.' He went to his home at night, and as he went the 
words were still : ' None other name. ' He reached his home, 
and still the words were ringing now like evening chimes 
with plaintive voice, ' None other name, — none other 
name ; ' and now like matin-bells rejoicing from some village 
spire : 1 None other name, — none other name.' ' Oh,' 
thought he, ' I have found it. I have been making a mistake. 
I have been thinking I should be saved and find comfort and 
peace by prayer and strivings and effort, but it is only Jesus 
who can save. I must cast myself on Him.' So with the 
simplicity of faith as a little child he sought Jesus and cast 
himself on Him alone, and then rejoiced with joy unspeakable 
and full of glory." 

My friend, if you shall escape from your mistake, 
and find pardon, peace, and joy, it will be by believing 
on that same blessed name. 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 



There is a point of rest 
At the great centre of the cyclone's force, 

A silence at its secret source ; — 
A little child might slumber undistressed, 
Without the ruffle of one fairy curl, 
In that strange central calm amid the mighty whirl. 

So, in the centre of these thoughts of God, 
Cyclones of power, consuming glory-fire, 

As we fall o'erawed 
Upon our faces, and are lifted higher 
By His great gentleness, and carried nigher 
Than unredeemed angels, till we stand 
Even in the hollow of His hand. 

Frances R. Havergal. 



XIX. 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 

Return unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt bounti- 
fully with thee. — Psalm cxvi. 7. 

\% 7 HEN the dove went forth from Noah's ark she 
* * wandered over the expanse of waters, till find- 
ing no rest for the sole of her foot she returned to 
Noah into the ark. The soul of man resembles that 
dove. It comes forth from the hand of God, and 
flying about tries to find some sprig or branch or bit 
of dry land on which it may light, but finding none, 
and wearied in its search, is driven back to God, or 
else perishes in the waters. What a floating piece 
of wood or tender sprig that rose and sunk on the 
waves might have been to the despairing dove, with 
disappointment at last, that is every object of earth 
to a soul that wants true rest. God is our ark, and we 
rest only as we return to Him. 

Everything physical and moral tends to equilibrium. 
You may throw up a suspended weight and it will 
swing back and forth, back and forth, the distance 
it describes constantly diminishing till by and by it 
rests. You may drop a ball into a hollow vessel and 
it will roll up and down, back and forth, its force 



268 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



gradually growing less and less, till at length it stops 
at the lowest point in that basin. Every moving 
thing that we see in the physical world, under the 
law of gravitation is seeking rest. The stone that is 
cast from the hand, even when it ascends, is under 
the government of this law. If it were not, it would 
never return. But as it flies there is the desire as if 
to come back; and when at length this desire be- 
comes stronger than the force that sent it up, it comes 
back and returns to its rest. The water that courses 
down the river-channel is seeking rest. The fierce 
torrent is only a case of greater urgency; the leaps it 
makes and the bulk to which it swells indicating the 
intensity of its desire for rest. When it comes out 
into the open sea or spreads itself abroad over ample 
fields, how still and calm it becomes ! The whole 
planetary system is under the influence of this same 
law. The meteor that darts athwart the heavens, the 
comet rushing along its flaming way, and every world 
that rolls in its appointed sphere is crying out for 
rest. A contrary force has given it propulsion that 
would carry it off into endless space ; but the search 
for rest brings it back, turns it into a curved track, 
and keeps it endlessly circling within its orbit. Even 
the ticking of our clock is another voice saying 
" Rest, rest." That pendulum wants to stop, but 
there is a weight that pulls at it and keeps it end- 
lessly on the go. 

Now, what we see in Nature has something corre- 
sponding to it in the moral and spiritual world. The 
human intellect seeks to find rest in ultimate truths. 
The mind is ever searching for something beyond. 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 269 

Greater achievements, new discoveries, and abstract 
principles are the green leaves which the mind 
searches after over the expanse of thought. The 
simple truth is the ark in which the mind at length 
finds rest. So in the spiritual world : — 

" Man has a soul of vast desires ; 
He burns within with restless fires ; 
Tossed to and fro his passions fly 
From vanity to vanity." 

The law of holiness would make us gravitate toward 
God ; the law of sin hurls us out into space and dark- 
ness. Our poor soul cries out for rest. It goes out 
over the expanse, but it finds nothing on which it can 
put its foot. There is no rest for man in anything 
that this world offers ; and yet you see so many rush- 
ing on just as if in riches, or pleasure, or honor and 
fame the tossing spirit could be composed ! Now 
to uneasy, restless man the text comes with soothing 
and admonition. A soul chides itself for being at a 
distance from God ; it experiences discomfort in its 
worldly state, and it says, " Return unto thy rest, O 
my soul; for the Lord hath dealt bountifully with 
thee." It proposes to come back to God for the rest 
it needs ; and it sees an argument for doing so in the 
fact that God has dealt bountifully with it. All God's 
blessings are reasons why we should seek Him. Our 
need should drive us and His goodness should draw 
us. There is a double reason for resting in God. 
Could our need be greater? Shall we not confess 
that in the objects of earth we find but little rest; and 
is not God good? Has He not dealt bountifully with 



270 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



us? Why do we not say, then, " Return unto thy rest, 
O my soul " ? The child loves to go where it is well 
treated ; the dove came back to the ark. Can we do 
better than to seek a home in God? During our civil 
war it was well understood what a Soldier's Rest was. 
There was kind nursing and medical attention ; there 
were cots for the sick and weary, supplies for the 
needy, and books and papers to occupy the mind. 
" Rests " those places were called ; and what better 
word could have been chosen to indicate all that was 
meant and included in those temporary homes? It 
was the best that love and friendship could do for 
dear brave men. Now, if we can conceive of a sick 
and suffering soldier getting new strength as he comes 
near one of those places and sees the flag, and has 
life enough left to read the word " Rest," so we may 
imagine a sin-sick soul revives as it returns to its rest 
in God. And greater comfort does it find, as the soul's 
resting-place is better than any other. It is common 
in hospitals and " Rests " to have different rooms fur- 
nished according to the necessities of all. Here is a 
room in darkness, for the patient is very ill and the 
light is painful. Here is a chamber where the sun is 
needed, and its bright rays enkindle life and lift 
up the sinking spirits. There is an apartment where 
convalescents gather, and hasten health by friendly 
conversation. There is a place for books and reading, 
and yonder is a cheerful parlor. So in God there are 
diversities and varieties suited to every condition of 
the soul. He may darken the room to one and make 
it light to another; but it is for spiritual healing, and 
that the soul may find rest. I have known families to 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 



271 



have different names for the rooms of their dwelling : 
not those common names, parlor, library, or drawing- 
room ; not names for some member of the family, as 
aunt's or grandmamma's room; not names derived 
from the drapery, and upholstering, as green or blue ; 
but names that were significant of sacred memories, 
that spoke of tender ministries, and that awakened in 
the mind affecting thoughts. Now, God is such a 
dwelling-place. "In my Father's house are many 
mansions." The word translated " rest," in the text 
" Return unto thy rest, O my soul," is in the original 
"rests," or resting-places, indicating the complete- 
ness and fulness of repose. All God's attributes, 
judgments, and ways — His word and providences, 
His government and law, His institutions and ordi- 
nances, His love and tenderness, His compassion 
and grace — are rooms in this Deific dwelling-place 
in which the soul may rest. 

" He whose name is Love 
Still waits, as Noah did for the dove, 
To see if she would fly to him. 
He waits for us, while houseless things, 
We beat about with bruised wings, 
On the dark floods and water-springs, 
The ruined world, the desolate sea ; 
With open windows from the prime, 
All night, all day, He waits sublime, 
Until the fulness of the time 
Decreed from His eternity." 

I. As a motive for returning to God our weakness 
suggests itself. Our weakness pertains to everything. 
Our bodies are weak; we dwell in houses of clay. 



272 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

Our minds are weak; we can endure but little 
thought and lisp but the alphabet of knowledge. 
Our hearts are weak; we throw up but feeble de- 
fences against the assaults of Satan, and we have to 
cry, " I am but a child." If we resolve, our resolu- 
tions are like brittle straws ; if we attempt to pray, — 

" Weak is the effort of our heart, 
And cold our warmest thought." 

When we try to do anything for the Master it seems 
as if we had no strength, and our best services de- 
serve no acceptance. If we try to carry a cross we 
sink under it ; and if we think we stand we instantly 
fall. A person recovering from a dangerous illness 
says, " I am so weak; " such are we spiritually. But 
— O blessed truth ! — " In the Lord Jehovah is ever- 
lasting strength." In this rest we receive the cordial 
that we need. Now comes the assurance, " As thy 
days, so shall thy strength be." What a sense of 
weakness did David possess and how constantly was 
he singing, "O Lord my strength, my strength!" 
Come, then, " Return unto thy rest, O my soul." 
Come, seek from God that divine support that shall 
enable you to perform every duty, to carry every 
burden, and to battle with every foe. 

2. Again, how ignorant we are ! With Bildad the 
Shuhite we can say, " For we are but of yesterday 
and know nothing." What do we know? Can we 
solve the mysteries of creation? Can we explain the 
problems of life? Can we show how the tender grass 
is formed, or how the sweet flower gathers its tints 
and emits its fragrance? Can we explain the laws 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 273 

of crystallization and show why snow-flakes always 
form at the same angle? Nature is full of mysteries; 
and when we have learned most we must confess like 
Newton that we are but as children gathering shells 
on the shores of a boundless sea. How ignorant are 
we not only of things but of truths ! Substance, 
elements, and principles elude our grasp. And then, 
how little do we know of spirit and of God ! Was 
it strange that the Athenians should have added to 
their many altars another to the unknown God ? 
There are depths which we have not fathomed and 
hights to which we have not climbed. In some sense 
all is mystery. The sea is boundless and the night is 
dark. With reference to all our knowledge we must 
say, " So foolish was I and ignorant ; I was as a beast 
before Thee." There is much that it is not impor- 
tant that we should know. We may observe facts, but 
leave the laws of the physical world unexplained. 
We may rest dumb before the unfathomed depths of 
revelation and the mysteries of redemption, leaving 
these to angels, and till we come where the angels 
are. But there is still much that we need to know, — 
knowledge of the way, knowledge of our sins, knowl- 
edge of Christ as our Redeemer, knowledge of truth, 
knowledge of duty, knowledge of God. We are lost and 
wearied amid the multiplicity of duties, the pressure of 
cares, and the worriment of questions, and in the midst 
of our besetments come to our wit's end. Now it is 
that the words of the text come to us like the breath of 
spring, — " Return unto thy rest, O my soul." God 
will give to us the strength and grace, the light and 
wisdom that we need. 

18 



274 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



3. Again, what misjudging creatures we are ! How 
often like Jacob do we cry, "All these things are 
against me ! " What blunderers we are in the lessons 
that God sets us ! How poorly do we read His provi- 
dences, and how feebly spell His purposes and de- 
signs ! God's ways are so vast and deep that we 
cannot comprehend them. Yet we are all the while 
seeking to interpret and divine. What is it the hymn 
says ? — 

" Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, 
But trust Him for His grace ; 
Behind a frowning providence 
He hides a smiling face. 

u Blind unbelief is sure to err, 
And scan His works in vain ; 
God is His own interpreter, 
And He will make it plain." 

Yet there is much finding fault with God. We fret 
like children; we say, "This will certainly work me 
ill." We see the wicked prospering and vile men 
exalting themselves, and it seems at times almost as 
if God had withdrawn from the world. But a voice 
from out the holy place reassures us : " Rest in the 
Lord and wait patiently for Him; fret not thyself 
because of him who prospereth in his way." We see 
not why we should lose and be disappointed, why 
our friends should die, why we should be sick and 
afflicted. But God knows best, and across all dark 
providences He writes, " Though thou knowest not 
now, thou shalt know hereafter." Chastisements are 
God's medicines, and we must not rebel because it is 
thus that He is bringing us to our true rest. In all 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 2?$ 

trying circumstances we ought to submit to God's 
hand and method; occupy the dark room if He 
requires, take the bitter draughts without complain- 
ing, and say in all our sufferings, " Thy will be done." 
When under some great loss we go wearily from place 
to place and all is dark and drear, the thought should 
well up within us as a spring of healing, — " Return 
unto thy rest, O my soul." Why stay and wander 
when there is rest for the soul in God? 

4. Again, what timid creatures we are ! How do 
we need some voice, some presence, some pressure of 
the hand ! Says one : — 

" The presence of Christ can turn a dark night into a night 
much to be remembered. Perhaps it is time to be sleeping, 
but the November wind is out, and as it riots over the misty 
hills, and dashes the rain-drift on the rattling casement, and 
howls like a spirit distracted in the tireless chimney, it has 
awakened the young sleeper in the upper room. And when 
his mother enters she finds him sobbing out his infant fears, 
or with beating heart hiding from the noisy danger in the 
depths of his downy pillow. But she puts the candle on the 
table and sits down beside the bed; and as he hears her 
assuring voice and espies the gay comfort in her smiling face, 
and as she puts her hand over his, the tear stands still upon 
his cheek till it gets time to dry, and the smoothing down of 
the panic-furrows on his brow, and the brightening of his eye, 
announce that he is ready for whatever a mother has got to 
tell. And as she goes on to explain the mysterious sources 
of his terror : ' That hoarse, loud roaring is the brook tum- 
bling over the stones ; for the long pouring rains have filled it 
to the very brim. It is up on the green to-night, and had the 
cowslips been in blossom they would all have been drowned. 



2j6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Yes, and that thump on the window. It is the old cedar 
at the corner of the house, and as the wind tosses his stiff 
branches they bounce and scratch on the panes of glass, and 
if they were not very small they would be broken in pieces.' 
And then she goes on to tell how this very night there are 
people out in the pelting blast, while her little boy lies warm 
in his crib inside of his curtains ; and how ships may be upset 
on the deep sea, or dashed to pieces on rocks so steep that 
the drowning sailors cannot climb them. And then perhaps 
she ends it all with breathing a mother's prayer, or he drops 
asleep beneath the cradle- hymn. . . . Now for the parallel : 
' As one whom his mother comforteth, so the Lord comforteth 
His people.' " 

5. Finally, what sinfid creatures we are! Oh, this 
makes our need great ! We are weak, ignorant, mis- 
judging, timid ; but, worst of all, we are sinful. But, 
glorious truth ! God is a refuge for the sinful. He has 
given His Son, and the cry of mercy which He ex- 
tends is, " Come unto Me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." We need rest 
from sin more than anything else, and we must come 
to God, — to God in Christ for it. My dear friend, 
sorrowful and heavy laden, why do you carry such 
burdens, when you might lay them down at the cross? 
Why do you suffer all this unrest, when there is peace 
and quiet for you in the blood of Jesus? Why do 
you let conscience worry, the world distract, and 
death alarm, when there is only a voice needed to 
make your soul as calm and peaceful as Gennesaret's 
bosom at the word of Jesus? Oh, seek this rest; 
return into the ark now ! Let David's words be yours : 
" Return unto thy rest, O my soul ; for the Lord hath 



GOD THE REST OF THE SOUL. 



277 



dealt bountifully with thee." Rest in the omniscience 
of God ; that His eye is on you to protect and bless. 
Rest in the omnipotence of God ; that His hand is 
with you to help and defend. Rest in the justice of 
God ; that He will deal truly with you and yours. 
Rest in the word and promise of God ; that He will 
fulfil all that He hath said. Rest in the providence 
of God ; that He will make all things work together 
for your good. Rest in the goodness of God ; that 
He will cleanse and renovate your guilty soul. Rest 
in the mercy of God; that He will say, "Thy sins 
which are many are forgiven thee." 

If any of us have had an experience in the past that 
is not ours now ; if we have known what it was to rest 
in God, but have wandered and are now ill at ease ; if 
we are sighing for the comfort of former days, and are 
saying, -— 

"Where is the blessedness I knew 
When first I saw the Lord? 
Where is the soul-refreshing view 
Of Jesus and His word ? 

" What peaceful hours I once enjoyed ! 
How sweet their memory still ! 
But they have left an aching void 
The world can never fill ; " 

let us come back to God at once, saying, " Return 
unto thy rest, O my soul. Return ; for it is only thus 
that peace and comfort, hope and joy shall again be 
thine." 

And you who arc still in sin, let me entreat you to 
come and rest in God. Do not yield to business and 



278 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



pleasure and worldly companions ; do not listen to 
doubts, and fail of entering into this rest through un- 
belief. Come to Jesus ; come now; come just as you 
are; come with your sins, your wants, your woes. 
Blessed words! Jesus speaks them, — "Come unto 
me, ... I will give you rest." 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



Without Thy presence, earth gives no refection ; 

Without Thy presence, sea affords no treasure ; 

Without Thy presence, air 's a rank infection ; 

Without Thy presence, heaven itself 's no pleasure; 
If not possessed, if not enjoyed in Thee, 
What 's earth, or sea, or air, or heaven to me ? 

Without Thy presence, wealth are bags of cares • 

Wisdom but folly; joy, disquiet, sadness ; 

Friendship is treason and delights are snares ; 

Pleasure 's but pain, and mirth but pleasing madness ; 
Without Thee, Lord, things be not what they be, 
Nor have their being, when compared with Thee. 

Francis Quarles. 



XX. 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 

Save now, I beseech Thee, O Lord; O Lord, I beseech Thee, send 
now prosperity. — Psalm cxviii. 25. 

OBSERVE the Hebrew parallelism, — the first 
clause reversed and repeated, — "I beseech Thee, 
O Lord ; O Lord, I beseech Thee." This is called the 
synonymous parallelism, in distinction from the anti- 
thetic and synthetic parallelism. The repetition makes 
the prayer more intense. It is a good prayer, suited to 
dark and troublous times, and yet appropriate always 
as indicating a sense of need, dependence, trust, and 
the desire for reviving, enlargement, growth. The 
prayer is suited to an individual soul or to souls taken 
collectively. 

We may mistake as to what constitutes prosperity, 
or fail of seeking the best form of prosperity. It is 
necessary once in a while to revive old-fashioned 
ideas ; to repeat commonplace remarks ; to con- 
vince ourselves anew that the plain, solid, and sub- 
stantial are better than glitter, hollowness, and show. 
There are methods of business that seem legitimate 
and prosperous ; there is much display, large adver- 
tising, great activity, and a heavy trade. The envious 
are disturbed; the cautious say, "Wait and see." 



282 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



After a while it is found that enormous signs in gilt 
lettering, a palatial building, and even thronging cus- 
tomers are not the true indices of the standing of a 
firm, but the inside condition of the books, and the 
system on which the business is conducted. Men that 
make up mercantile registers do not put against a 
name " A No. I " because a man has a big sign, but 
because he is doing his business in a sound way. A 
store may be crowded with customers ; but if you trust 
everybody, and are reckless in your methods of busi- 
ness, you will soon fail. When a house is well estab- 
lished it does not think much of putting up a sign; 
there comes a time too when the goods that leave a 
store do the best advertising. Now, it is somewhat 
the same with religion and the Church. A man may 
make a great show of piety while there is a very 
poor stock within; his best goods are all in the 
shop-window. He may pray and talk, be noisy and 
active, and yet lack in the substantial principles of 
piety, if he is not a hypocrite. If he does not pay 
his debts, or keep his promises, or govern his tem- 
per, his piety will be of little worth. Men discover 
shams in religion sooner than in anything else. So 
a church may have the appearance of prosperity 
when it is very unsound within. 

Now, let me state what spiritual prosperity is not ; 
and what it is. 

i. Age is not a sign of prosperity. Age is some- 
thing, — it shows endurance ; it bespeaks a history. 
You cannot have age without an antecedent time. 
Age too is honorable: we reverence antiquity; we 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



283 



walk with veneration amid old ruins. The dynasty that 
lasts commands unusual respect; a fickle, change- 
able government is lightly esteemed ; we venerate in- 
stitutions that endure ; the college, the bank, the com- 
pany that has stood long and had a good record is 
proud of its age. But a church may be old and yet 
not be prosperous. There have been churches that 
have lived long and yet have fallen into decay. The 
seven churches of Asia and all those that were planted 
by the apostles once flourished, but they long since 
passed away. There are churches in New England 
that after living a hundred and fifty years have gone 
into inanity. Age may be mere senility. Suppose 
then a church can say, " We have lived so long ; " 
it must say more than this. Individual churches 
sometimes become proud of their age, and claim a 
higher social position, when pride and worldliness too 
much usurp the place of true godliness. Age may 
produce ruts, restraint, rigidity. Age is excellent, 
but it is not enough alone. 

2. Funded endowments are not an evidence of pros- 
perity. Originally it was quite common for churches 
to own estates out of which the ministry was supported 
in whole or in part. Where there is a union of Church 
and State the Church is supported by the State. And 
when a severance of the civil and ecclesiastical powers 
was effected in this country, it was natural that it 
should be thought desirable that the Church should 
have some independent endowments. But permanent 
church funds have proved an injury rather than a 
blessing. They are likely to become a bone of con- 
tention; there is jealousy in the management of 



284 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

them; they dry up the spirit of benevolence; they 
make people feel that the gospel is not worth all that 
it costs. In such a church gifts to the great objects 
of benevolence will be likely to be graded to the same 
scale. 

3. A splendid church edifice is not a sign of pros- 
perity. It is right to build fine churches; where 
wealth is consecrated thus it honors God ; the edifice 
becomes a silent, effective preacher. Architectural 
beauty too is refining and elevating. We must have 
plain churches for the masses, but it does not follow 
that all churches must be plain. It is easy to say, 
" If this money were given for a library, or to build 
chapels, how much better it would be ; " but that is 
assuming that the money would go to those uses. 
Fine churches may prepare the way for libraries, and 
chapels, and schools of art, and hospitals, and many 
other good things for men. It is not best to be too 
utilitarian ; and we should guard against criticism and 
jealousy. We ought to be thankful, and not proud, 
if we can worship in finer churches 1;han others pos- 
sess; and we ought to rejoice if others can worship 
in finer churches than we possess. We ought not to 
be dissatisfied if our church is cheap and plain, as if 
that argued against our own prosperity; and we ought 
not to conclude that we are more prosperous than our 
neighbors because we happen to have a more beau- 
tiful edifice than they. The truth is, the building is 
not essential to the life of the Church. The church 
may be a log-cabin, and yet be a holy temple unto 
the Lord. The gospel in a barn is good enough 
for necessitous times. The most spiritual worship 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



285 



perhaps that was ever offered, was offered in dens 
and caves of the earth. The Protestants of France 
used to take their children at night when the doors 
and windows of the house were shut, and every- 
body else was sleeping, and teach them day by day 
— or rather night by night — portions of the Scrip- 
tures; and many children learned in this way the 
whole New Testament, and some the whole Bible. 
And then when there was a meeting in some wood 
or retired cavern, hidden from the dragoons of Louis 
XIV., where these persecuted people had gathered 
as if they had met to commit a crime, and they 
had no Bible, the minister would put a boy or girl 
on an elevated place and say, " We shall now hear 
the tenth chapter of John, or the seventh chapter of 
Hebrews, or such and such a portion of the word 
of God." That was spiritual worship; and the 
place had little to do with it, or only made it more 
spiritual. 

4. A church is not prosperous because it has a 
popular minister. Few ministers are popular. The 
truths preached are not acceptable to the natural 
heart. Ministers are God's ambassadors. There is 
an alienation between God and man, and unless the 
Master be loved, the servant cannot be. Christ him- 
self cautioned his ministers against depending on pop- 
ular favor: "Woe unto you when all men speak well 
of you ; " while those are pronounced blessed who 
are persecuted for righteousness' sake. It is said of 
the Saviour, that the common people heard Him 
gladly; but that only proves that He knew how to 
preach. Neither the common people nor the proud 



286 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Pharisees cared much for what he said. Jesus him- 
self told the multitude that they followed Him for 
the loaves and fishes ; and when He had finished His 
earth mission He had gathered but one hundred and 
twenty believing, praying disciples. Isaiah, his pro- 
totype, was not a popular preacher, for he was led to 
cry, "Who hath believed our report?" Jeremiah was 
not popular, for they put him into prison and let him 
down into a horrid dungeon. Noah was not popular ; 
he had the world against him. Lot vexed his right- 
eous soul ; but he had to give up his work and leave 
a doomed city. Jesus was crucified; John was ban- 
ished ; and all the other apostles were put to a violent 
death. Peter had great success in one instance, but 
it was at Pentecost, when the Spirit was poured out in 
a miraculous manner in fulfilment of the prophecy 
in Joel. Peter could not have been settled over a 
parish and had the same success every day. There 
have been occasionally men of wonderful gifts and 
marvellous success in the ministry, — men whose 
preaching has been attractive and at the same time 
faithful, and which the Holy Spirit has greatly blessed. 
We read of the golden-mouthed Chrysostom, whose 
eloquence attracted Jews, heathen, and heretics; yet 
he had enemies, and died in banishment and exile. 
Whitefield was the wonder of his day, but he did not 
preach to the same audience, and his sermons as he 
passed from place to place were simple repetitions. 
No more marvellous man exists than Spurgeon, who 
continues to attract vast audiences, and whose ser- 
mons are models of simplicity, truthfulness, and power. 
We have a few eminent men in this country ; but are 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



287 



only those churches prosperous that are favored with 
the ministry of these few? 

5. Wealth and numbers are not a sign of prosperity. 
There may be numbers without spirituality; there 
may be all that riches can command, and yet a real 
deadness to the concerns of the soul. " How is your 
church doing?" one asks. "Oh, splendidly," is the 
answer ; " the income is great, finances easy, large 
congregations, magnificent music, all going well." 
" What of the prayer-meeting?" "Ah! I can't say; 
don't attend it." "How about the membership? 
spiritual? growing in grace? having conversions?" 
"Well, really I can't say; you must go to the dea- 
cons for that ! " 

But I pass to speak of what the signs of pros- 
perity are. 

I. Harmony among the membership. This is a 
vital point. When the Devil wants to destroy a 
church he makes his assault here. I regard discord 
among brethren as the direst evil. I think we cannot 
be too much afraid of it, or sacrifice too much in a 
personal way to prevent it. It would seem as if the 
pen of inspiration, knowing man's weakness and dan- 
ger, and appreciating the direful consequences of 
division, was specially cautious and urgent on this 
point. What charges with regard to forgiveness ; how 
frequent the commands to love ! The Lord's Prayer 
is a protest against ill feeling. " A new command- 
ment I give unto you," said the Saviour. " I be- 
seech you," writes Paul, " that ye walk with meekness 
and long-suffering, forbearing one another in love; 



288 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond 
of peace." John, who was all love, writes : " We know 
that we have passed from death unto life because we 
love the brethren." I say, then, aside from all other 
externals, where love is, there is prosperity ; and where 
envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil 
w r ork. I wish to speak in a cautionary way: " Let 
not the sun go down upon your wrath." If there is a 
cloud of difference among you the size of a man's 
hand, overcome it w T ith the breath of love and drive it 
away. Suppress petty jealousies, guard against small 
talk and worthless criticisms ; show no slights, and 
take no notice of any that may be shown to you. 
We must love one another, and we must w T ork to- 
gether in the cause of our common Master. We must 
be patient and forbearing, and set down to human 
nature anything that offends. Nor give your ear to 
any that might wish to stir up strife. Hear what 
Paul says : " Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them 
which cause divisions and offences; . . . and avoid 
them." 

2. Another sign of prosperity is attachment to the 
Church. There is what is known as the esprit de 
corps, — a zeal and enthusiasm to promote the ends 
for which the members of a church are banded to- 
gether. Sometimes the outward organism is more 
loved than Christ who is in it. This is wrong ; but a 
love for our particular church because it is ours — 
as we love our own home — is right. We are to love 
that which the Church embodies and represents, — 
the doctrines, worship, and ordinances of religion; 
we should say with David, " How amiable are Thy 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



289 



tabernacles ! " " a day in Thy courts is better than a 
thousand ; " "I was glad when they said unto me, 
Let us go into the house of the Lord ; " and with 
Isaiah, " For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace ; " 
and then, in addition to this, we should labor for the 
prosperity of our particular church. In building up 
your own church you are doing most for the cause of 
God at large. Where this animated co-operative spirit 
exists it is a good sign. There is a vast amount of 
undeveloped talent in every church. The great thing 
is to bring this into use. The church should be a 
hive, and every man and woman in it engaged in some 
kind of Christian work. There is no excuse for any 
but the sick and the infirm. Old ladies can knit 
stockings, and send these to the needy, or to the 
missionary in his distant home. One grand method 
of doing good is in going out and inviting others to 
come in. One way to win others is to impress them 
that you yourselves are interested and pleased. An 
irregular and indifferent manner is always disheart- 
ening. The relish with which a poor man enjoys 
his frugal meal is appetizing to others. 

3. Another sign of prosperity is interest in the 
young. A thriving Sabbath school speaks well for 
a church. Gather the children in, fill the seats, take 
your place in the class, be faithful as a teacher, 
and you will have a live church. Where parents 
are faithful at home also, it adds to the general 
welfare. 

4. Again, a spirit of benevolence is a sign of pros- 
perity. " Give, and it shall be given to you again." 
" There is that scattereth and yet increaseth." " It is 

19 



290 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



more blessed to give than to receive." If men shut 
down on the Lord He will shut down on them. 

5. Finally, the best sign of prosperity is a prevailing 
spirit of prayer. Prayer moves the arm that moves 
the world ; it is the Christian's lever. " The effectual 
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." 

" Prayer makes the darkened cloud withdraw ; 
Prayer climbs the ladder Jacob saw ; 
Gives exercise to faith and love, 
Brings every blessing from above. 

" Restraining prayer we cease to fight ; 
Prayer makes the Christian's armor bright ; 
And Satan trembles when he sees 
The weakest saint upon his knees." 

The text is a prayer, — " Save now, I beseech Thee, 
O Lord; O Lord, I beseech Thee, send now pros- 
perity." See, prosperity comes from the Lord and in 
answer to prayer ! It does not come from human 
contrivances and outward garniture; it is an inward 
life. I have seen in the forest a stately tree all cov- 
ered with living green, and at a distance it was sightly 
to behold ; but on coming nearer I discovered that it 
was a borrowed life that I beheld ; it was an old dead 
trunk which some kindly vine had mantled over and 
adorned with the beauty of its own life. So there are 
churches dead at the core which outward forms and 
showy rites may seem to represent as living and grow- 
ing; but by and by when the stout wind of a spiritual 
reformation shall arise they will come crashing down 
with all that attaches to them. Piety is a sap; the 
Church grows from within. Prayer is like the rain 



TRUE PROSPERITY. 



291 



that waters the roots; if prayer ceases the tree dies. 
It is a common saying that the prayer-meeting is the 
best index of a church. You may call it thermometer, 
pulse, or anything else. Hence I say if there is a pre- 
vailing spirit of prayer you may know that the Church 
is highly prosperous. Nothing sustains a minister 
like prayer. How earnestly did Paul say, " Pray for 
me ; " and how fitly may weaker men repeat his plea ! 
Ministers can generally tell when their people are 
praying for them; they feel borne up; there is a 
special divine support; the atmosphere seems bracing 
around them. I remember reading of a minister who 
had had great success, but at length his preaching 
became inoperative and vain. The membership were 
discussing the matter and wondering what the cause 
could be, when one of the number said, " Brethren, 
the fault is with me; for a long time I was in the 
habit of spending the night preceding the Sabbath in 
prayer for my minister, but of late I have become 
negligent, and the fault is with me." Preaching 
cannot be powerless where there is earnest prayer. 
Happy the pastor who is comforted and encouraged 
by a prayerful people ! 

My friends, let us lift the prayer of the Psalmist, and 
with united voice say, " Save now, O Lord ; O Lord, 
send now prosperity." May we attain to a prosperity 
truly great and that shall fill our hearts with joy. 
What are all the things of earth compared with the 
soul's peace and eternal redemption? What matter 
is it whether we have much or little in this world 
if we are God's children? " There shall I wear a 
starry crown ! " Away, then, earth ! Fade, things of 



292 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



time ! Trifles and vanities, be gone ! " Why should 
we grovel here below?" Shall riches, honors, pleas- 
ures, cares, distract us? Brethren, look up; behold 
the Father's house and the many mansions, and let 
the glories of the celestial fix your gaze and draw 
you hence. 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 



God's "cannot" answers Lot's "cannot." His power is 
limited by His own solemn purpose to save His faltering servant. 
The latter had feared that before he could reach the mountain 
"the evil" would overtake him. God shows him that his safety 
was a condition precedent to its outburst. Lot barred the way. 

Alexander McLaren. 



XXI. 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 

Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou 
be come thither. — Gen. xix. 22. 

IT is remarkable and yet it is true that there are 
senses in which we can limit God's power. He 
can do all things; and yet there are things which 
He cannot do. He cannot, just because He has es- 
tablished such relations between us and Him that He 
cannot, and leave us what He has made us. 

Here was Lot, a good man, living in Sodom. It 
was a wicked city, and must be destroyed. But before 
it is destroyed Lot must be removed out of it. Angels 
come and tell him God's purpose. But he does not 
seem to comprehend ; he is too slow. And so they 
have to use gentle force. They take him by the hand 
and lead him out. It was hard for himself and family 
to abandon their old home. At any rate, they are not 
awake to the necessity, and so we read : " And while 
he lingered, the men" — that is, the angels — "laid 
hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, 
and upon the hand of his two daughters, the Lord 
being merciful unto him ; and they brought him forth 
and set him without the city. And it came to pass, 
when they had brought them forth abroad, that He 



2g6 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



said, Escape for thy life ; look not behind thee, neither 
stay thou in all the plain ; escape to the mountain, lest 
thou be consumed." 

They have not roused Lot yet, for he is disposed to 
argue : " Oh, not so, my Lord. Behold, now, Thy 
servant hath found grace in Thy sight, and Thou hast 
magnified Thy mercy, which Thou hast showed unto 
me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the 
mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die : behold, 
now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little 
one: oh, let me escape thither, — is it not a little one? 
— and my soul shall live. And he said unto him, See, 
I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I 
will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast 
spoken. Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do 
anything till thou be come thither." 

So, then, I ask you to notice particularly the con- 
nection between God's acts and the acts of Lot. God 
is about to destroy the city, but there is one there 
whom He wishes to spare, and so steps must be taken 
to deliver him. Angels must be sent to warn him, 
and even to take him by the hand and force him out ; 
and all this while there is a suspension of the Divine 
purpose. The bolts of fire are held in check; the en- 
gulfing ruin stayed ; for God can do nothing till Lot is 
quite out of the way and out of danger. 

Then this great truth is brought to view, that some- 
how we can limit God's power ; there are things which 
He cannot do because we do not let Him. 

And yet this is a very common truth. You see it 
in the harvest. God cannot give a field of wheat or 
corn or rye if the husbandman puts in no seed at 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 



297 



the beginning. Man makes the seedtime, God makes 
the harvest. But whether God will make that field 
yield its autumn recompense depends on whether 
man will do the ploughing and the planting. The 
great Husbandman stands as if in all the fields at 
the beginning of the summer and says, " I cannot do 
anything if you do not work." 

Now, it is precisely so in the Church and in religious 
matters. God cannot save your soul if you do not 
try yourself to save it. He has left it with you to 
act, and if you wait for Him to act you have reversed 
the process, and are expecting the harvest before the 
planting. He has created the cross and Calvary. This 
is the way: and now He says to every impenitent 
person while He points to that cross, " Haste thee, 
escape thither ; for I cannot do anything till thou be 
come thither." That is where grace will reach you ; 
if you will not flee to the cross you will no more be 
saved than Lot would have been if he had refused to 
escape from Sodom. 

So with regard to the Church; God moves no 
faster than the Church moves. He has devolved on 
it the salvation of the world. The world should have 
been converted centuries ago; but God could not 
do it because the Church stood in the way. If the 
heathen perish, it is the Church's fault. When God 
says, "Go, preach," He means it; and if we do not 
obey, the awful guilt is our own. 

So with regard to spiritual gifts ; you cannot have 
a revival, or conversions, or enlargement, or joy, if 
you do not put in the seed for these. " Thus saith 
the Lord God, I will yet for this be inquired of by 



298 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



the house of Israel to do it for them." We must ask 
and prepare the way. And when the spiritual har- 
vests fail, it is all explained: "Behold, the Lord's 
hand is not shortened that it cannot save ; neither 
His ear heavy that it cannot hear. But your iniqui- 
ties have separated between you and your God, and 
your sins have hid his face from you that He will not 
hear." Then, as giving prominence to human duty, 
it is written, " Bring ye all the tithes into the store- 
house, that there may be meat in My house, and prove 
Me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will 
not open you the windows of heaven and pour you 
out a blessing that there shall not be room enough 
to receive it." We find Jesus recognizing the same 
limitations of His power. " He could not do many 
mighty works" where the human conditions were 
not supplied. When He came to the tomb of Laza- 
rus He said, " Take ye away the stone." There was 
a stone at the mouth of the sepulchre. It was to be 
removed ; He might have removed it. He was going 
to raise the dead ; why did He not by the same power 
roll away the stone? Ah! that was for man to do! 
Human hands had placed it there and human hands 
must roll it away, and then the mighty power of God 
would be shown. So we must roll away the stones, 
and then God will come and give spiritual life. It is 
death to say, " We can do nothing," or to settle down 
into " do-nothings," waiting for God to do all. Here 
arc certain works and duties that we must perform, 
or the mouth of our sepulchre will remain shut for- 
ever. Now, what are some of the things that limit the 
Divine power? 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 



299 



I. Manifestly, unbelief. This is what prevented 
the mighty works at Nazareth. We read, " With- 
out faith it is impossible to please Him ; for he that 
cometh to God must believe that He is, and that 
He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." 
And then we have that array of Bible saints — Abel, 
Enoch, Noah, Abraham, and many more — "who 
through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteous- 
ness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 
quenched the violence of fire." Faith, like faith, could 
do as much for us now. The difficulty is, we have 
not faith ; we do not believe ; our creed embraces 
the being and attributes of God, sin and redemption, 
heaven and hell; but we are very easy under these 
tremendous verities and our solemn professions. At 
least, there is a fearful discrepancy between our creed 
and our conduct. A distinguished writer says : — 

"There was in the town in which a certain minister 
preached an avowed and determined infidel. He saw this 
man one Sunday evening in his place of worship. He was 
preaching on some of the great verities of faith and the 
duties resulting therefrom. As he was the next morning 
passing the door of the man, he was standing at it, and he 
said to him, ' I saw you at worship last night, and was rather 
surprised to see you there, as you do not believe what I was 
preaching.' ' No,' said he, ' nor you either.' ' Indeed ! ' 
' No,' he went on to say ; ' why, if I were to believe the 
things you affirm to be true, and which are written in your 
books, I should not know how to contain myself. I should 
feel their importance so much that I should exhibit them 
wherever I went. I should not know how to hold in the en- 
thusiasm they would excite. But I do not believe them nor 



300 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



do you, or you would be very different people from what 
you are.' Dreadful sarcasm ! Cutting irony ! Withering re- 
buke ! But how deserved ! Shall we not feel it ? Shall we 
not learn our defect, our duty, our inconsistency, even from 
an infidel?" 

2. Another thing that limits the Divine power is 
worldliness. By worldliness is meant an absorbing 
interest in the things of this world. We were born 
here, and have been here so long that we forget that 
we are only passing through this world. We ought to 
carry a tent, but we try to build us a house. What we 
sing ought to be true, — 

" Nightly I pitch my moving tent 
A day's march nearer home." 

But we are slow to move, and the tent is not enough 
for us. Food, clothing, business, family, — these are 
the things on which our thoughts centre, when we 
ought to feel that we are away from home, and that 
our citizenship is in the skies. What does the Book 
say, and what do our papers read that we carry along? 
Let Paul speak : " For our conversation is in heaven." 
What says Peter? "Dearly beloved, I beseech you 
as strangers and pilgrims abstain from fleshly lusts 
which war against the soul." " Pass the time of so- 
journing here in fear." How was it with Abraham? 
" He sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange 
country." " For he looked for a city which hath 
foundations, whose builder and maker is God." Of 
those who died in faith it is written, that " Having 
seen the promises afar off they were persuaded of 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 



30I 



them and embraced them, and confessed that they 
were strangers and pilgrims on the earth." Such 
must be our confession, such the spirit of our life. 

3. An idle and slothful spirit limits the Divine 
power. God says, " I cannot do anything till you 
go to work." The law of labor is universal. There 
is no royal road to learning, and there is no royal 
road to anything. He who eats must work. The 
fulness of the harvest is gathered by the sweat of 
toil. So, spiritually, drones fill no hives. Nor are 
any so fault-finding as those who do not work them- 
selves. Many excuse their idleness by saying, " We 
want some one to set us at work." Why do not they 
set themselves at work? That is one to whom they 
have access ; and then why do not they set others at 
work? It is an excuse to indulge themselves. But 
God sees through it, and He says, " I cannot do any- 
thing, for you will not work." The birth-cry of a new- 
born soul is, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ? " 
It goes direct to God to find work, and it finds enough 
of it so soon as it is willing to work. Nor is toil un- 
rewarded: " Always abounding in the work of the 
Lord forasmuch as ye know that your labor is not 
in vain in the Lord." God helps those that help 
themselves ; God helps the church that tries to serve 
Him. 

4. Divided counsels limit the Divine power. God 
says to many a church, " I cannot do anything be- 
cause you differ so among yourselves." Divided 
counsels and alienated feelings hinder and hurt the 
work of God. " The Spirit, like a peaceful dove, flies 
from the scenes of noise and strife." The day of 



302 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Pentecost was ushered in by a unity of thought and 
action. " They were all with one accord in one 
place." That is what antedates the Pentecosts ! That 
is what secures the Spirit's presence, and brings to a 
church a harvest of joy ! 

5. The neglect of prayer limits the Divine power. 
It was praying that the disciples were engaged 
in when they were in that one place. If we cease 
praying we cut the pipes that connect us with the 
fountain of grace. Everything depends on prayer. 
God can do nothing if we do not pray. Hence the 
many exhortations, and the great prominence given 
to prayer. Prayer moves the arm that moves the 
world ; and God lets us use that power. Not to pray 
is to die : — 

" Prayer is the Christian's vital breath, 
The Christian's native air, 
His watchword at the gate of death ; 
He enters heaven by prayer." 

So, then, it is as if God stood at a distance and, 
pointing to that neglected prayer-closet, that dilapi- 
dated family altar, or that forsaken prayer-room, says, 
" Haste thee, escape thither ; for I cannot do anything 
till thou be come thither." 

More knee-work is the great need of the churches 
generally. Parents and Sabbath-school teachers must 
be importunate in prayer. Ministers cannot too ear- 
nestly ask God's blessing on their labors. 

The story is told of 

"A clergyman who longed to trace 
Amid his flock a work of grace," 



GOD WAITS FOR MAN. 



303 



and whose ill-success was revealed in a humble way. 
The nap on the garment had a voice. For this is 
true : — 

" He who would great revivals see, 
Must wear his clothes out on the knee. 
For such the lever prayer supplies, — 
When pastors kneel, their churches rise." 

A public meeting was once held where a whole day 
was given to the consideration of prayer, — prayer in 
the closet, the family, the social meeting, the public 
assembly, prevailing prayer, answers to prayer. 

Has there not been the neglect of prayer among 
ourselves? May this not explain why our hearts are 
so cold and conversions are so few? Is it not this 
that bars the Spirit's presence, and that causes these 
deplorable results to appear? Consider what a fearful 
responsibility it is, and how fraught with evil, — to 
keep God from the midst of us, and to keep our 
friends, children, and scholars from becoming Chris- 
tians ! And why should we walk in darkness our- 
selves, and mourn the hidings of our Father's face? 
Let us consider what the hindrances are ; and whatever 
is required in the way of duty to secure the Divine 
blessing, let us seek to discharge the duty, and ask 
God to help us. Let faith, consecration, earnestness, 
unity, and prayer be the stepping-stones to that Zoar 
height up which we must come to escape the judg- 
ment of the wicked, and to which the voice of God 
calls us. 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



When a general good work is to be done, each should apply 
himself to that part of it that falls nearest him and is within his 
reach. If every one will sweep before his own door, the street 
will be clean ; if every one will mend one, we shall be all 
mended. 

Matthew Henry. 



XXII. 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 
Every one over against his house. — Neh. iii. 28. 

IT is a comforting thought that responsibility is 
limited by the boundaries that we occupy. At 
least, responsibility has its sphere in the realm of 
ownership. We are not charged with our neighbor's 
business, and are not to do his work. It is astonish- 
ing that people do not understand this better ! So 
many are trying to do other people's work, when 
they are doing their own so poorly! We somehow 
fancy that it is the street that is given us to care for, 
when it is only the part that is before our own door. 
If each will attend to what lies before him, and all 
will work, no part will be neglected. 

Let us attend to this matter of individualism, — our 
personality, responsibility, and selfhood as workers 
on the walls of Zion. Sometimes things in the bulk 
appall us ; we need to consider little things, items and 
particulars, and aggregating these, come gradually 
and pleasantly to the grand total. Some of you who 
were reared in the country can recall the huge wood- 
pile by the back door, which little hands were to 
remove and store safely under cover. You groaned 



308 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



before it; but going at it with a will, it melted down 
and down, stick by stick, till the task was ended. You 
walk along the city street, and you see great struc- 
tures, massive and high, but they were built up stone 
by stone, brick upon brick, story upon story, till the 
entire work was accomplished. The ant-hills, the well- 
stored hives, and the coral islands illustrate the power 
of individual effort. We may be little in ourselves, 
but we can do great things when each does his part 
and all work together. 

When the Jews came back, under Nehemiah, from 
the seventy years' captivity, they set about restoring 
their ruined city in a methodical and orderly manner. 
They all worked, — men of all professions, priests, 
apothecaries, goldsmiths, merchants, and even women ; 
but they worked in their own place, in due order, and 
with regular division of labor. There was no con- 
fusion, interference, or neglect, for each had a well- 
defined and specific work to do. So must it be in 
the Church. We cannot do one another's work; it 
is enough if we do our own. The possession of 
different gifts, aptitudes, and positions indicates that 
there is a work for each to do, and that no one can 
take another's place. We sometimes speak as if we 
thought it possible for one man to perform the duties 
of another. We see an important office vacated, and 
we ask who will fill that place. A church lost an able 
pastor who had served them for many years. One 
of the members, deploring the loss, remarked to an 
acquaintance, " I am afraid we shall never get a min- 
ister who will fill Mr. D 's place." " Very likely 

not," was the reply; " if he fills his own place he will 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



309 



do well." When shall we learn that we are not to 
fill any one else's place, but simply our own? We 
make ourselves unhappy if we try to do another's 
work; and we are unreasonable if we ask one to do 
work other than his own. We too often covet others' 
talents or opportunities, and perhaps at the same time 
we are not improving those that we have. We should 
be thankful that we have not more gifts, if we are 
not doing the best with what we have. If the Lord 
wanted us to be like some other person, or to do his 
work, he would have made us like that other person 
and put us in his place. And is it not a comfort to 
think that we have only to do our own work? We 
are too much like boys at school, who report another's 
neglect, but the master says, " Better not be looking 
around." If twenty-five feet represent my limits on 
the city street, then I have only so many feet of snow- 
shovelling, repairing, or sweeping to do. If my neigh- 
bor has a larger frontage, if he has lawn and flower 
garden extending around his dwelling, then he has 
so many more feet of sidewalk to look after and so 
much more work to do. Let us not be envious, for 
with increased endowments come greater responsibili- 
ties. Little or much, all that is asked is that we do 
each our part, and then all will be done. Would that 
a sense of personal responsibility might take posses- 
sion of every professed disciple of Christ ; would that 
every one might be led to adopt the resolution that 
a noble young man once entered in his diary: "Re- 
solved that I will, the Lord being my helper, think, 
speak, and act as an individual; for as such I must 
live, as such I must die, stand before God, and be 



3IO LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

damned or saved for ever and ever. I have been 
waiting for others ; I must act as if I were the only 
one to act, and wait no longer ! " 

Now it is evident, where all work, more work will be 
done. If men go into the field to reap, or assemble 
to husk corn, the amount of ground gone over, or the 
quantity of corn husked, will be greater if each man 
does his part. This is the case where the work is the 
same in kind. But suppose, now, you visit a factory 
where watches are made, and every operator has a 
particular work to do. There are many steps in the 
process, and articles must pass from one to another, 
and finally be combined in the ultimate unity. Sup- 
pose it is the business of one man to make a little 
pivot or to cut a little wheel ; it is evident if he did not 
do his part that not a watch could come out of that 
factory. All the rest might work hard, and make 
thousands upon thousands of main-springs, balance- 
wheels, ratchets, etc., but they could never make a 
watch because this other man's work was wanting. 
Thus one man may keep others from working. Each 
supplying his part adds to the quantity ; but more than 
this helps all the rest. So in Church work we may 
help or hinder; we hang together; there is a mutual 
dependence, and it is not that neglect produces so 
much less work, but it cramps and paralyzes all. You 
may say, " The part that I perform is very small ; the 
Church cannot be hindered or helped much by my 
services ; " but even the humblest may furnish the 
little pin that is essential to the correct running of 
all. We can imagine the parts of a watch to fall out 
with one another. The face and hands are commonly 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



all that is seen; but down in, hidden from view, re- 
quiring even the powerful glass of the watchmaker, 
is the little pivot, or tooth, whose friendly offices must 
be conciliated, or else the hands will stand still or 
furnish incorrect time. What need we care, then, what 
our part is, if one be a pivot and another a hand, so 
that we all move together and contribute to the end 
for which the parts were made? There is a grand 
unity running through the Church, and every little 
child may feel that he is a little wheel, or just a little 
tooth or pin, in the make-up of the whole. Some- 
times but a bit of dust impairs the movements of a 
watch ; and so a very slight thing sometimes deranges 
the operation of a church. The greatest accuracy is 
reached when, without obstruction, each performs the 
part devolving upon him. The little wheel must not 
try to be a hair-spring or a hand, but only a wheel ; 
the pin, a pin; and all unite in moving together in 
sweet accord. 

It becomes each, then, to ask, " What is my place 
in the Church? What am I expected to be, and what 
ought I to do? " We might answer in a word, — " Do 
the best that you can; live up to your profession; 
make the most of your opportunities." But let us 
dwell a little. 

You seem to have nothing that you can do but 
pray. You are old and feeble; you have no means, 
and are unknown ; or you are young and earning 
nothing, so that praying is about all that you can 
do. Give to the Church, then, your prayers. If you 
are poor, the prayers of the poor may be worth more 



312 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



to a church than the wealth of the rich. The acces- 
sion to a church of a humble person who brings piety 
and prayer is greater than that of a man of wealth 
who brings but little piety and less prayer. Prayer 
may sanctify the efforts of others, stimulate to exer- 
tion, and bring to fruitfulness what others do. 

With regard to the prayer-meeting. Can you not 
be more constant in your attendance upon it? If the 
meeting is good for one, why is it not for all? Allow- 
ing for persons having the care of young children, for 
aged persons whose failing strength prevents their at- 
tendance, for those who are affected with temporary 
illness, and for those whose positive duties and en- 
gagements are a bar to their presence, — there still 
remain people enough in any community to sustain 
an earnest, glowing, and quickening prayer-meeting. 
Many stay away who might come; and in doing so 
they not only are losers themselves, but they hurt and 
hinder others. 

Perhaps you are a musician and belong to the band 
part of the army. You can make music while others 
fight. If God has put into your hands a fife or a drum 
instead of a sword or a gun, do not be silent, or misuse 
your gifts ; but make the best music that you can, — 
music that shall inspire others and rouse them to dare 
and to do. Singing is an important part of public 
service. If congregational singing is practised, it 
should be with due consideration and with such cul- 
tivation of the art as is possible to each person. Some 
have special gifts, and they may be very helpful if they 
will be. Song and gladness go together. Sing if you 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



313 



can ; at any rate, let your heart be filled with melody. 
A little boy who worked in one of the Yorkshire coal 
mines was questioned as to his occupation. From 
morning till evening he sat in a dark coal passage, 
opening the door when he heard one of the boxes 
come rumbling along. His chief amusement was to 
gather candle-ends, and when he had gathered a suffi- 
cient number of pieces he lighted them all. " Well," 
said the questioner, " and when you have got a light, 
what do you do? " " Oh," said the little fellow, "when 
I gets a light I sings." May we not learn to imitate 
the happy spirit of the child in the coal pit? 

Something also is to be said with regard to giving. 
The truth is coming more and more to be recognized 
that giving is worship. It is easy to sing and to pray ; 
but when a man puts his hands down deep into his 
pockets and makes a sacrifice, it may be the most 
spiritual form of worship. In many congregations the 
every-Sabbath collection is an established custom. 
Some people seem to think that in the Millennium 
religion will make no demands upon the purse, that 
giving for benevolent objects will be dispensed with, 
and that this is an end to be desired. But that time 
will never come. We are to preach a free gospel, but 
we are not to encourage selfishness. It is possible to 
cheapen the gospel, and make it appear too cheap to 
be worth anything. Jesus preached a free gospel, but 
He inculcated that as soon as any began to serve Him 
they must begin to give. He commended the widow 
who put into the treasury her two mites, which was all 
her living. He said, " Sell that ye have, and give 



3H 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



alms." We read of the ministrations to the poor 
widows, and of the collections that were taken in all 
the churches for the needy ones at Jerusalem. We 
note the liberality that characterized the early con- 
verts so that they even had a community of goods. 
It would have been very singular if Christ in estab- 
lishing a new dispensation had left out the giving 
feature. It might have added to His popularity if 
He had said, " Come, ye Jews, who have always had 
to pay a tithe of your income ; I have set up a church 
in which you will not have to pay anything; we 
preach a free gospel, and we never present to people 
that obnoxious contribution-box." But instead of en- 
couraging selfishness, He said, "You must give all; 
you must make an assignment in trust to your new 
master, and if you are afraid to put your pocket-book 
into My hands, you will not be likely to place your 
soul there." It is not that the Church is mendicant, 
but giving is a precious means of grace. It is a real 
luxury to those who practise it. God purposely sur- 
rounds us with the poor, or with benevolent societies 
and church and mission agencies and needs, not that 
we may get cross and complain and refuse to give, 
but that we may find opportunity for the development 
of generous thoughts and the cultivation of a growing 
piety. He wants us to give, and He will see that we 
have the means of giving. It is easy to find excuses, 
and to say, " Let others give." In stringent times, too, 
it is common to withhold from the Church. But it is 
a poor place to practise economy. The Church bill 
should be as sacred and obligatory as the grocer's and 
the butcher's bill. If either has the preference, it 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



315 



should be the bill that relates to the feeding of the 
soul. Nor should we disesteem the littles. One says, 
" My few dollars cannot help ; " but if many say this, 
there is laid on the officers and others a great burden. 
It is said, with some show of reason, that ten families 
can support a minister anywhere; any ten families; 
for if they will each give one tenth of their income, 
the minister will receive ten tenths, and can live just 
as well as they, and have one tenth to spare. The 
littles make the mickles, and the mickles make the 
muckles. Aggregate the small sums, and you are as- 
tonished to see how large they become. It is a good 
sign when young men band together and take sittings 
in the house of God. The money paid in this way 
will be not only a help to others, but do them far 
more good than as if it went for luxuries or amuse- 
ments. A young man with a wife and young children 
once gave up his seat in the house of God — both him- 
self and wife being professors of religion — on the 
ground that he could not afford to pay the pew-rent ; 
while at the same time he was spending more for 
cigars than would have been necessary to furnish him 
with one of the best seats in the house. Young men 
will pay more for a single concert or lecture — carriage 
hire and all other expenses being taken into account — 
than will furnish them with church accommodations 
for a year. So a single article of dress or a little 
pleasure trip sometimes costs more than all that is 
given for religious purposes during a whole twelve- 
month. And yet people sometimes feel that the 
Church is very hard on them, and that it makes very 
unreasonable demands. 



3*5 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Thus we see how practical the subject becomes, 
and how important it is that every one should do 
just what it is in his place and power to do. There 
are other departments of Christian labor. The Sun- 
day School makes its demands. Strangers should be 
visited and welcomed. A new sphere has opened in 
" woman's work for woman." Various local enter- 
prises look to us for help. Nor are those persons 
who are most active in Church work those who have 
but little else to do. On the contrary, they are very 
busy with family, business, or other cares; but they 
take pleasure in recognizing these and other claims 
upon their energies and time. They profess not to 
be their own, and they live accordingly. Oh for a 
more complete personal consecration on the part of 
Christ's followers! Oh for the unity and zeal that 
characterized the builders in the days of Nehemiah ! 
They worked ; they all worked ; they had their par- 
ticular places, and each did his part. They met 
with opposition and ridicule, but they kept on. Half 
wrought in the work, and half held the spears ; the 
stars found them watching, and the night did not 
bring them rest; so they labored, and in fifty-two 
days the wall was finished, " for the people had a 
mind to work." 

May God give to you this spirit of consecration, 
— this mind to work! It is when a church is in "a 
high spiritual condition that the best results are 
reached. Effort is rewarded, prayer is heard, sin- 
ners are converted, Christians are strengthened and 
comforted, God is glorified. Nor should there be 
one idler among those whose names are written here. 



EVERY ONE AT WORK. 



317 



Let every one bear in mind that he can do some- 
thing, and that he has something to do, and let none 
stand back and wait for others; do simply each your 
part. Nor delay in doing; the time is short. See 
also that you do not hinder others, and keep them 
from working. And if you have been thinking of 
great things for yourself; if you have coveted some 
higher place and wider sphere ; if you have thought 
that you could do more or do better in another spot 
or in different circumstances, — at the same time, per- 
haps, neglecting present opportunities, — do not de- 
ceive yourself longer; settle down to the limits within 
which God has placed you; take care of the few feet 
before your own door. It is not the noun, but the 
adverb, not the how much, but the how well, that 
shall measure your reward. 

" Do thy little ; do it well ; 
Do what right and reason tell ; 
Do what wrong and sorrow claim ; 
Conquer sin and cover shame. 

" Do thy little, though it be 
Dreariness and drudgery ; 
They whom Christ apostles made, 
Gathered fragments when He bade. 

" Do thy little ; God hath made 
Million leaves for forest shade : 
Smallest stars their glory bring ; 
God employeth everything. 

" Do thy little ; and when thou 
Feelest on thy pallid brow, — 
Ere has fled the vital breath, — 
Cold and damp the sweat of death, 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Then the little thou hast done, 
Little battles thou hast won, 
Little masteries achieved, 
Little wants with care relieved, 
Little words in love expressed, 
Little wrongs at once confessed, 
Little favors kindly done, 
Little toils thou didst not shun, 
Little graces meekly worn, 
Little slights with patience borne, — 

These shall crown the pillowed head, 
Holy light upon thee shed ; 
These are treasures that shall rise 
Far beyond the smiling skies." 



WILL-POWER. 



The longer I live the more I am certain that the great dif- 
ference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the 
great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible determination, 
a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory. 

Thomas Fowell Buxton. 



XXIII. 



WILL-POWER. 

I am resolved what to do. — Luke xvi. 4. 

THOSE who have had much to do with criminals, 
have noticed that they are very susceptible as a 
class. The chaplains in the prisons find that they 
have attentive and tearful congregations. Allusions 
to childhood, mother, and home will bring tears to 
some eyes. But the difficulty is, the tears are emo- 
tional ; the feeling is but an impulse ; there is no 
settled and fixed purpose. We speak of hardened 
criminals: many are such or become such; but 
many are tender, soft, too soft; they lack in moral 
fibre ; they have no force of will. If in some moment 
of tenderness they resolve to do better, the resolution 
is forgotten as soon as the occasion is gone or a new 
temptation appears. You can get promises from such 
people, but their promises are worth but little. Even 
with those who possess more character and strength 
of will, the best purposes are sometimes like scratches 
in the sand which the incoming wave wipes out. 

Philosophers treat of the mind as that part of us 
which thinks, reasons, and wills ; and then subdivide 
into consciousness, perception, memory, and so on. 



322 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



The moral part of our being is most important, and 
the possession of a strong will is of great value. 
Parents sometimes are distressed because their chil- 
dren are stubborn and self-willed. But you find in 
that quality the foundation for a strong character. 
The pliant, easy child is most likely to be led astray. 
It is better to have a will to break than no will at all. 
It is easier to train a strong character than to work 
up a weak character into that which is useful and 
good. Both must be attempted. If your child is 
gentle and easily persuaded, try to foster in him 
independence, self-reliance, decision, and purpose. 
If he is heady and obstinate, impatient of control 
and hard to manage, do not count this altogether 
adverse, but train and guide that resoluteness into 
the right channel. A weak will is significant of a 
weak character. You never saw anything great and 
grand accomplished by a weak will. Indecision, 
timidity, change, are not robust virtues. They do 
not insure success, or help on in the realization ot 
vast and noble schemes. 

Some believe that even death itself can be kept at 
bay by the assertion of the will. Sometimes all that 
is needed in the case of the sick is " to make an 
effort." Consumption laid its hand on a well-known 
clergyman in one of our inland cities. He was given 
up to die ; and yet for ten years longer he continued 
to preach to that people. Nothing kept him alive 
but his indomitable will. He had a slight frame, and 
was physically weak, but he had courage and resolu- 
tion beyond the common degree. You might not 
interrogate him with regard to his health, while with 



WILL-POWER. 



323 



an exertion that was heroic he struggled on. At last 
he fell, but, like himself, resolute to the end. On a 
Sabbath day, in one of the Western cities, he preached 
for a friend, and then retiring to his room in the 
evening, sat down upon his trunk and died in that 
position. It was a significant and heroic closing of 
an earnest life. We cannot but admire the resolute- 
ness that lifts one above adverse circumstances, and 
out of ashes and blasted hopes and death agonies 
establishes the nobility of man. 

The superintendent of an inebriate asylum claimed 
that drunkenness might be cured by strengthening the 
will-power. Many persons fall because they have not 
the ability to say No. It is not information concern- 
ing the evils and sorrows of intemperance that men 
need, but a greater power of will, that when temptation 
is presented they can resist and stand firm. 

And is not this the great need commonly with men, 
— not so much clearer moral perceptions, but stronger 
moral purposes? We see the right, but the wrong 
pursue. Paul said, "What I would, that do I not; but 
what I hate, that do I ; ... to will is present with me ; 
but how to perform that which is good, I find not." 
We must will and do both, then we shall be strong. 
We speak of men of backbone. What do we mean? 
Men who adhere to their principles. Men of purpose, 
who stand firm, who cannot be diverted from the end 
before them. If some tonic could be found by which 
the will-power of men could be strengthened, it would 
be a valuable discovery. "The heart of the sons of 
men," we are told, " is fully set in them to do evil," 



324 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



and they need no strengthening in that regard; but 
most men know better than they live; their hearts 
rather than their heads are at fault ; their conscience 
is right, but their will is feeble. Now, when we come 
to look at man, we see that the paralysis of the soul 
relates to the will. You sometimes see a human being 
dragging around a dead limb; thus the soul drags 
the will. Conscience, reason, judgment, imagination, 
memory, are affected, just as all the body sympathizes 
with a crippled member; but the seat of the difficulty 
is in the will. Did not Christ preach, — " No man 
can come to Me, except the Father which hath sent 
Me draw him ; " " Ye will not come to me that ye 
might have life " ? And are not the appeals of Scripture 
addressed to the willing or choosing faculty? " Choose 
you this day whom ye will serve; " " Why will ye die, 
O house of Israel?" " Mary hath chosen that good 
part which cannot be taken away from her." The 
service of God is a voluntary service, and the reason 
why so few are in that service is because the remainder 
will otherwise. You ask, " Am I responsible for a 
paralyzed will?" You are not responsible for what 
you inherit. A child born with a feeble frame may 
suffer for his parents' faults ; still his fault consists 
in abusing that feeble frame or not using the reme- 
dies whereby it may be made strong. You have 
a sinful nature; you will gain nothing by denying 
this. But your particular sin is that you act as your 
sinful nature dictates, and are not using the remedies 
that are furnished for the renovation of your nature. 
But you say, "How can I? If my soul is dead in 
trespasses and sins, and my will is paralyzed, how can 



WILL-POWER. 



325 



I act or employ my will?" You cannot of yourself; 
but the wonder and glory of this thing is that " God 
works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure." 
So if you ask "flow can I?" without looking to Him, 
you will ask and not do forever. But as soon as you 
confess your deadness, and offer this paralysis as a 
reason for His help, He will give you the strength 
needed. It is not that you are commanded to perform 
an impossibility, but that you must see and admit your 
inability, when you say "I cannot;" not to decline 
doing, but to seek aid, then you will find you can. 
You know the story of the man with a withered hand. 
Jesus told him to stretch it out. He did not say, 
"Lord, I cannot; do you not see it is withered?" 
He stretched it out ; the paralysis was gone as soon 
as he attempted to obey. So will it be with you. 
Confess weakness, ask help, and you will be strong. 

You see the end of all preaching, then, is to excite 
the disposition or rouse the will-power in man. The 
greatest obstacle in the way of the conversion of men 
is irresoluteness, indecision. When we can push men 
up to that point to say, " I am resolved what to do," 
we have hope for them. Most men have no resolu- 
tion, no purpose ; they float with the current, or they 
offer a feeble resistance now and then. Every con- 
gregation is full of half-persuaded men. If they would 
only say, " I am resolved what to do," and do, they 
would be happy and useful ; but they feel, think, wait, 
and die in their sins. We have seen the tearful eye, 
the sorrowful countenance, the anxious look ; and then 
we have seen all this expression of interest pass away 
and the soul left farther from God than ever. The 



326 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



difficulty is, there was no decision; no effort of the 
will ; no acting as the conscience spoke. You recall 
the case of the prodigal. He felt wretched ; pictures 
of home rose in his memory; comfort and plenty were 
there, while he was dying with want. He might have 
starved; but in his distress and need, coming to him- 
self, he said, " I will arise and go to my Father." That 
was his lofty purpose, and putting it into execution, 
hope again dawned upon him, and, folded in his father's 
bosom, rags, poverty, and wretchedness were his no 
more. There are other cases. The lepers at the gates 
of Samaria were in desperate need. As lepers they 
might not venture into the city, and if they should, it 
was famine there ; while yonder, on the other side of 
them, lay the besieging army of Benhadad. Now, hear 
them reasoning : " And they said one to another, why 
sit we here until we die? If we say we will enter into 
the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall 
die there ; and if we sit here, we die also. Now, there- 
fore, come and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians : 
if they save us alive, we shall live ; and if they kill us, 
we shall but die." So, acting out their purpose, they 
stole by night into the camp of the Syrians, but found 
the enemy fled, their provisions left, and an abundance 
of supplies for the starving inhabitants of Samaria. 
Another instance of high resolve is furnished in the 
case of Esther. To save herself and people, she must 
venture on a most hazardous undertaking; accord- 
ingly, she says to Mordecai : " Go gather together all 
the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for 
me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or 
day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and 



WILL-POWER. 



327 



so will I go in unto the king, which is not according 
to the law, and if I perish, I perish." 

These were cases of will-power asserting itself in a 
remarkable and perilous way. But he who comes to 
Christ, comes without peradventure. There is no " If 
I die," " If I perish." All who venture on Him are 
sure of favor; all who seek, receive from Him free 
pardon and life eternal. 

Dear friends, let us understand that we are grandly 
constituted, made in the image of God, with an im- 
mortal soul and an undying destiny ! There are im- 
mense interests at stake ; the time is short, a choice is 
to be made; to vacillate is unworthy; to remain as 
you are is to die. There is a call " to-day ; " serious- 
ness and thinking are not enough; the will must 
respond, " I come." 

Would that all who are yet undecided might be 
fired by a lofty purpose, and say with an emphasis 
never before expressed, " I am resolved what to do." 
The grandeur of life, the worth of the soul, the glories 
of redemption, demand that all should be earnest 
Christians. Time, talents, property, ought to be given 
to the Lord. We are too much like them that dream. 
We are losing sight of the chief end of our being. 
Can we not get upon a higher plane? May we not 
wisely adopt some new resolves? Political conven- 
tions always reduce their views and purposes to writ- 
ing ; this is their platform ; on this they go out into 
an urgent and determined canvass. Does not the 
belief of the Church embody facts enough to make 
us even violent for Christ? How is it that we are 
not zealous beyond measure in so glorious a cause? 



328 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



Where are the Pauline Christians? Where are the 
Edwardses and Martins and McCheynes and Pay- 
sons of a former day? Let me read to you some 
things that Jonathan Edwards resolved : — 

"Resolved, never to do, be, or suffer anything in soul or 
body, less or more, but what tends to the glory of God. 

" Resolved, to live with all my might while I do live. 

" Resolved, that I will live so as I shall wish I had done 
when I come to die. 

"Resolved, to inquire every night, as I am going to bed, 
wherein I have been negligent, what sin I have committed, 
and wherein I have denied myself ; also at the end of every 
week, month, and year. 

" Resolved, never to act as if I were any way my own, but 
entirely and altogether God's." 

And so on through sixty-seven resolutions. He 
invoked the help of God, and that he lived up to 
these resolutions with earnest conscientiousness and 
strict fidelity, his life attests. 

Resolutions in themselves are nothing. It is the 
purpose carried out that avails. It is not the resolu- 
tions but the acts of the apostles that are recorded 
in the New Testament. But there were resolutions 
nevertheless, that lay back of those acts, and that the 
acts expressed. Never was there a more purposed 
man than Paul. In a lofty and good sense he was a 
man of one idea ; and that idea crystallized into a labo- 
rious and holy life. Oh that we might all be filled 
with the spirit and purpose of the great apostle ! 

Dear friends, we are living in a critical time ; the 
love of many waxes cold; cross-bearing is too 



WILL-POWER. 



329 



little practised ; the Church is making friendship with 
the world ; the atmosphere is heavy, and you will 
feel its oppressive influence unless you keep your- 
selves wakeful by an active and earnest life. Guard 
against backsliding; beware of yielding to a worldly 
spirit; say to business, "Stand back, and interfere 
not with my hours of devotion." Neglect not the 
prayer-meeting ; it needs your presence, and you 
may find refreshment there. Be constant in your 
attendance upon the Sabbath services ; let not slight 
reasons keep you away. Cultivate the spirit of for- 
giveness and of brotherly love. Giving is a means of 
grace and a form of worship. Practise benevolence; 
it will do you good, make you happy, increase your 
usefulness, keep you from getting worldly, and prove 
a way of laying up treasures in heaven. 

You will be tempted in many ways, and there are 
great dangers. A close walk with God and a faith- 
ful discharge of duty can be maintained only as one 
relies upon Divine help coupled with constant watch- 
fulness and a firm and steadfast resolve. If you are 
conscious of short-coming in any respect, and know 
wherein improvement can be made, give attention to 
that necessity and say, " I am resolved what to do." 
Matthew Henry says, " Those that resolve to serve 
God must not mind being singular in it, nor be drawn 
by the crowd to forsake His service. Those that are 
bound for heaven must be willing to swim against 
the stream ; not do as the most do, but as the best 
do." Be, then, an honest and earnest disciple of the 
Lord Jesus. As this is your field of labor, do your 
duty in it to the glory of God. Every one in his 



33o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



place, all together, stout heart, strong hands, good 
courage, large hope, great zeal, — that is the way to 
work ! 

And when will you who have not yet united with 
us come in and work? " Why stand ye here all the 
day idle?" "How long halt ye between two opin- 
ions?" When will you adopt and put in force the 
saying, " I am resolved what to do "? Thought, you 
have enough ; it is time that you should purpose and 
do. Rise like the prodigal and come to your Father ; 
be determined like the lepers; be resolute like the 
queen. 

" Come, trembling sinner, in whose breast 
A thousand thoughts revolve ; 
Come, with your guilt and fear oppressed, 
And make this last resolve, — 

" * I '11 go to Jesus, though my sins 
Like mountains round me close; 
I know His courts, I '11 enter in, 
Whatever may oppose. 

" ' Prostrate I '11 lie before His throne, 
And there my guilt confess ; 
I '11 tell Him I 'm a wretch undone, 
Without His sovereign grace. 

" 4 Perhaps He will admit my plea, 
Perhaps will hear my prayer ; 
But if I perish, I will pray, 
And perish only there. 

" ' I can but perish if I go ; 
I am resolved to try ; 
For if I stay away, I know 
I must forever die.' " 



JONAH FAINTING. 



Wherever God casts us, we may find a way open heaven- 
ward, if it be not our own fault. When our souls faint, we must 
remember God ; and when we remember God, we must pray to 
Him, a pious ejaculation at least. They that run away from 
the work of their place and day, run away from the comfort 
of it. 

Matthew Henry. 



XXIV. 



JONAH FAINTING. 



When my soul fainted within me I remembered the Lord. — 



THE story of Jonah is a familiar one. He was one 
of the minor prophets. He lived about eight 
hundred years before Christ, and is distinguished for 
his prophecy against Nineveh. To those persons who 
doubt the authenticity of this story it is sufficient to 
say that the Saviour credited it and quoted it; while 
it is a well-attested fact that in the Mediterranean Sea 
fishes are found whose greatness and form confirm the 
sacred narrative. 

We have not now to do with the story, but with 
Jonah's prayer. 

Let us consider when he prayed, where he prayed, 
and how he prayed. 

It was a time of distress with him. His soul fainted. 
If ever a man was in trouble, he was in trouble. He 
had been sent on a terrible mission ; it was too much 
for him ; he thought to flee ; but the tempest arose 
and endangered the vessel ; he was cast out into the sea 
and a fish swallowed him. It is not strange that we 
find him praying. When a man comes into straits 
such as these, praying is the best thing that he can do. 



Jonah ii. 7. 




334 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



A man feels like praying when he is in trouble. One 
reason why God lets a man come into trouble is to 
bring him to pray. How many times does David 
say, " In my distress I called on the Lord " ? Men in 
prosperity forget God ; but when dangers thicken, 
they seek help. The infidel Volney could scoff on 
shore; but when the storm overtook him on Lake 
Erie, he fell upon his knees, crying, "Oh, my God, — 
if there be a God, — have mercy on me!" It is a pity 
that goodness will not lead men to pray. Sunshine 
ought to make us sing like the birds; but as men 
are ungrateful, God has to scourge them, and then 
they pray. Fulness excludes prayer, for there is no 
felt want; but when the need is great, the danger 
imminent, the trial painful, how natural then to 
pray ! It is said of Israel, " Hungry and thirsty, 
their soul fainted in them: then they cried unto the 
Lord in their trouble, and He delivered them out 
of their distresses." It is very hard for one when he 
will not or cannot pray. Prayer is the remedy for 
human ills. Fainting soul, see Jonah, and learn from 
him to pray. 

Now, note where he prayed. Never did prayer go 
up from such a place before or since. Up through a 
fish's ribs, up from the depths of the sea, a cry for 
help rose to the ear of the Almighty. How forcibly 
does Jonah say ; " Out of the belly of hell cried I ; " 
" The depth closed me round about, the weeds were 
wrapped about my head " ! But it matters little what 
be the place of prayer. Deep waters, the pit and mire, 
the dungeon, the lion's den, may be just the place 
where the ear of God is bowed nearest to listen. God 



JONAH FAINTING. 



335 



could hear the cry of the Covenanters in their moun- 
tain fastnesses, and of the Huguenots in their forest 
retreats, when He could not hear the mutterings of 
robed priests in gorgeous cathedrals. It is very dif- 
erent, to cry out of the belly of hell, from sitting 
on cushioned seats amid comforts, and using the 
language of prayer. It is not the place that is of ac- 
count but the attitude of the soul. Better be with 
Jonah and have your prayer heard, than to be in a 
church brilliant and costly, with heartless forms. 
Better pray on the thief's cross, and be lifted thence 
to Paradise, than to stand in the temple with the 
Pharisee uttering a thankful boast. The place of 
prayer what does it matter, so that the soul prays? 

And now that we see Jonah upon his knees, let 
us see if we can learn from him how to pray. 

I. Observe, he prayed with earnestness. He is in 
real trouble, and no faint desires, no feebly-expressed 
wishes, will do. He says, " I cried by reason of mine 
affliction unto the Lord." *' Out of the belly of hell 
cried I." Prayer is a cry. You cannot pray and be 
heartless and insincere. The drowning man cries ; the 
poor woman in the window of that burning dwelling 
screams, " Save me and my child ! " The difficulty with 
your praying is that you do not cry; you are not half 
in earnest ; you make few attempts to pray ; you pray 
now and then ; you do not feel what you say. And 
then you complain that God does not hear, and that 
there is no advantage of praying. Ah, how intently 
God listens, and though from the belly of hell the cry 
comes, how quick is He to send deliverance ! Desire 



336 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

to be saved, feel as Jonah felt, cry as he cried, and 
your prayer will be heard and your distresses will 
pass away. 

2. Jonah was conscious of his situation, and appre- 
ciated Ids need. The strong language that he used 
evidences this. A man will not cry for help till he 
feels that he needs help. You must see that you are 
lost, before you will cry to be saved. Jonah had 
sinned, and now he is in trouble; guilt and sorrow 
weigh on his soul. He may well despair, but prayer 
may bring him deliverance. When you appreciate 
your guiltiness and confess yourself lost, and, without 
relying on false claims and self-effort, seek help, it 
will come. To go up, you must come down; the fear- 
ful depths lie in the way to the lifting up; he that 
humbleth himself shall be exalted. 

3. Note further that Jonah looked to God. He says, 
" 1 cried by reason of mine affliction unto the Lord." 
Suppose he had cried to the fabled sea-monsters, to 
Neptune or the Naiads, what would it have availed? 
It is said of the mariners that they " cried every man 
unto his god ; " but it did no good. Now they say, 
" Call upon thy God, that we perish not; " and he did. 
He cried unto the Lord, and his glorious declaration 
is, " and He heard me." If we want help we must seek 
it in the right place. The false prophets in the days 
of Elijah prayed, " Oh, Baal, hear us ! " but they got 
no answer; but when Elijah prayed, the fire came 
down. If you think that distress of soul is to be 
relieved by calling on friends, employing ordinances, 
good purposes, or worldly devices, you will act like 
the heathen. The first commandment is : " Thou shalt 



JONAH FAINTING, 



337 



have no other gods before Me." A man may do an 
immense amount of praying and trusting, but, not 
directed to the right object, it amounts to nothing. 
Half the praying and trusting, if addressed to God in 
Christ, would have availed. The woman in the Gospel 
paid much to the physicians, and then got more from 
Christ than she received from all. 

4. Yet again, Jonah prayed with thankfulness. It 
was a great deliverance; no wonder that he was 
thankful. We almost expect to hear him say, " I 
will sacrifice unto Thee with the voice of thanks- 
giving." I doubt if he had ever felt such thankful- 
ness before. The danger was the measure of his joy. 
Prosperity begets ingratitude; the more we have, 
the more we want. Reverses check pride and rebuke 
desire. Loss calls attention to what we keep. Es- 
cape gives heartiness to praise. Miriam with her 
dances has only just now come to the other side of 
the sea. It is after some great deliverance that we 
say, " I am so thankful ! " 

5. Once more, we discover in Jonah the spirit of 
obedience. It had been a good lesson to him; he 
would not try again to run away from duty. He is 
thrown upon the dry land, and springing to his feet 
makes straight for Nineveh. His fearfulness and re- 
luctance have gone, and entering into the city, a day's 
journey, he lifts the warning cry. Who would think 
that this bold preacher was once the skulking Jonah ? 
See how much good punishment does him ! Now, it 
is useless to pray if there be not the spirit of obe- 
dience. " Thy will be done " must be written in each 
prayer. The converted man asks, like Paul, " Lord, 

22 



338 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



what wilt Thou have me to do? " If you are ready to 
obey, it is pretty good evidence of a renewed state. 
If you are honestly asking, "How can I serve God? 
Where can I be most useful? What is the Master's 
pleasure?" it bespeaks a condition of soul that is 
only produced by grace. The grand characteristic 
of conversion is submission. The gospel is epito- 
mized in that one word — submit. 

We come back to the text, — " When my soul 
fainted within me I remembered the Lord." We have 
seen when Jonah prayed, where he prayed, and how 
he prayed. What do we learn from this? We, too, 
faint. It is toilsome, troublesome life that we have 
to live. It is bright enough at first; but when we 
get out of the harbor and down the bay, we come 
to a tempestuous sea. These struggles and losses, 
these disappointments and fears, these griefs and 
pains, these conflicts with sin and selfishness, these 
breaches of friendship, these painful changes, these 
dreadful bereavements — make our passage rough 
and perilous. But never mind; above the angry 
clouds there is a bright sky, and over the sea lie 
peaceful shores. The great duty is to secure a good 
pilot, and we shall outride the storm and come at 
length to the desired haven. Yet it is not strange, 
so many and so great are the pains and perils, that 
some persons lose heart and hope, and are ready to 
say, " Let me die." Now, to these fainting ones the 
words and example of Jonah are appropriate, — 
"When my soul fainted within me I remembered 
the Lord." 



JONAH FAINTING. 



339 



As an antidote to discouragement, then, this is the 
remedy, — you must remember the Lord. 

i. Remember Him as a Sovereign Being; as One 
who metes out all your changes, and administers His 
government in wisdom and love. " The Lord reign- 
eth; let the earth rejoice!" That is the thought, — 
God reigns ! He is good and powerful and great ! 
Men cannot circumvent Him; devils cannot obstruct 
His purposes or defeat His cause. We can trust Him, 
and it is a matter for rejoicing that " our times are in 
His hand." Better be in His hand than our own hand. 
We grieve and worry, because we have not faith. A 
heartier trust in God would lift us above discourage- 
ment and gloom. " Blessed is the man that trusteth 
in Him." " I will lay me down in peace and sleep, 
for Thou only makest me dwell in safety." An anec- 
dote is told of Whitelock, who was sent as Oliver 
Cromwell's envoy to Sweden in 1653: — 

" The night before he embarked he rested at Harwich. It 
was storming without, and he was much disturbed in mind as 
he reflected on the distracted state of the nation. It hap- 
pened that a confidential servant slept in an adjacent bed, 
who, finding that his master could not sleep, said : ' Pray, sir, 
will you give me leave to ask you a question?' 'Certainly.' 
' Pray, sir, don't you think God governed the world very well 
before you came into it?' 'Undoubtedly.' 'And pray, sir, 
don't you think that He will govern it quite as well when you 
are gone out of it?' 'Certainly.' 'Then, sir, pray excuse 
me, but don't you think you may as well trust Him to govern 
it as long as you live ? ' To this question Whitelock had 
nothing to reply ; but turning about, soon fell asleep, till he 
was summoned to embark." 



340 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



2. Again, we should remember the promises of God. 
God gives us more than His character: He gives us 
His word. A child that had perfect confidence in a 
loving father might be satisfied with that; but when 
his father assures him with promises and pledges he 
ought to be quite happy. Now, God has all along 
been strengthening the faith of His people with prom- 
ises. We read of the Israelites, "to whom pertain 
the promises." Canaan was a land of promise. Peter 
writes, " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great 
and precious promises." Paul exhorts, " Having 
therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us 
cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and 
spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." If a 
kind father had gone from home, and promised his 
children that on his return he would give them valu- 
able presents provided they were good, it would be 
natural, when the children began to get noisy and rude, 
for one of their number more thoughtful than the rest 
to say, " Now let us not forget what father said before 
he left home." And so the apostle reminds us of our 
Father's promises, to inspire hope and stimulate us to 
a better life. God's promises are yea and amen. An 
earthly parent may disappoint us. The best promis- 
sory note may fail. But the promises of God cannot 
be destroyed or put beyond redemption. The Bible 
is a Promise Book, and it contains promises for all. 
It has promises of pardon, promises of protection, 
promises of the resurrection, promises of heaven. It 
speaks to the penitent ; it speaks to the sorrowing ; it 
speaks to the doubting; it speaks to all. Here the 
widow reads through blinding tears words so full of 



JONAH FAINTING. 



341 



tenderness; and here the tender orphan is cheered 
with assurances of a better home, and learns to sing 
in artless strain, — 

" I have a Father in the promised land." 

Now, when we faint, it is evident we should throw 
ourselves back on these promises. Sin troubles; 
God promises you forgiveness. You want rest; the 
voice cries, " Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and I will give you rest." You are filled 
with terror at the dangers of the way ; the voice says, 
■'Fear not; I am with you; be not dismayed." You 
tremble at coming evils ; an assuring voice is again 
heard, " As thy days, so shall thy strength be." And 
thus like little children in a dark night we step along, 
our hand in our Father's hand ; and to allay fear we 
ask questions that we may be cheered and comforted 
by the sound of His voice. 

3. Yet again, we should remember /^ deliverances. 
It is said of Israel : " They remembered not the mul- 
titude of Thy mercies;" "They soon forgot His 
works;" "They forgot God their Saviour;" "Many 
times did He deliver them, but they provoked Him 
with their counsel." Our Red Seas, our manna in the 
wilderness, our Meribahs, are not to be forgotten. We 
must remember the Lord in what He has been to us 
in the past. Our Friend is a tried friend ; He has 
helped us before, and we are to reason that He will 
help us again. The tendency is to remember trials, 
but to forget mercies. We say of our life history: 
" There we met with that great misfortune ; there we 
had that severe illness; there we lost a dear child; 



342 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



there we were robbed by dishonest men ; there the 
flood wrought ruin; there the fire consumed our treas- 
ures ; " when these were the rare incidents, and all 
along the cup of blessing was brimming to the full, 
and even our losses were tempered with alleviations of 
good. How strange it is that we are so forgetful of 
what God has been ! Some great trial comes, we are 4 
full of fear ; and then God proves better than our fears, 
and we think we will never be so distrustful again. 
But the days glide on, the past grows dim, some new 
difficulty presents itself, and we are just as timid and 
trembling as before. Could Jonah ever have for- 
gotten his cry in the sea and his help then? Was he 
not ready now to trust God anywhere? Did not 
David reassure himself by recalling former deliver- 
ances? "O my God, my soul is cast down within 
me ; therefore will I remember Thee from the land of 
Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar." 
When we come into trouble and are filled with fear, 
we must think of God from our hill Mizar. 

So, then, we leave this story of Jonah, having 
learned from it how we are to pray, and that when 
we faint we must remember the Lord. 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 



Let not your exertions end in tears ; mere weeping will do 
nothing without action. Get on your feet : ye that have voices 
and might, go forth and preach the gospel ; ye that have wealth, 
go forth and spend it for the poor and sick and needy and dy- 
ing, the uneducated, the unenlightened ; ye that have time, go 
forth and spend it in deeds of goodness ; ye that have power in 
prayer, go forth and pray ; ye that can handle the pen, go forth 
and write down iniquity, — every one to his post; everyone of 
you to your gun in this day of battle. Now for God and for His 
truth ; for God and for the right ; let every one of us who knows 
the Lord seek to fight under His banner. 

Charles H. Spurgeon. 



XXV. 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 
Because the kings business required haste. — I Sam. xxi. 8. 

IT is delightful at times to see people in haste. The 
quick step of the city is invigorating. Men of 
energy and force move others. Promptness and de- 
spatch are prime factors in every enterprise. Drones 
and loiterers accomplish little. If a painful task is to 
be performed, it is better to do it than to dread it ; or 
if a suffering is to be undergone, it is better to suffer 
it once than to suffer it many times. 

David was in desperate straits, in great danger, and 
in great need. He was unfurnished with weapons, 
and was without bread. Under the circumstances, 
he entered the house of God and ate the forbidden 
bread. His necessity made it right; his errand was 
an urgent one, and he was without arms, " because 
the king's business required haste." 

David fleeing from the violence of Saul may be 
taken as a type. We are beset by enemies ; we are 
charged with great interests, and we have a great 
work to do. We are in the service of the King, and 
His business requires haste. 

It is sometimes said that "haste makes waste;" 
but for all that has been lost by haste, ten times more 



346 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



has been lost by droning. You do not find haste 
without an impelling power. When you see wheels 
flying, you know that there is an energy somewhere 
that keeps them going; the faster they run, the 
greater the power. Activity in business indicates 
purpose, courage, force. Activity in the service of 
Christ betokens vigor, strength, will. From Paul's 
life we know what Paul's spirit was. Haste is the 
visible expression of force of soul. The jet in the 
fountain rises as the power is let on. Promptness, 
earnestness, action, reveal the strength of the inward 
feelings. 

It is not to be questioned that the Christian life 
is one of intense activity. We sometimes refer to 
the ancient Jews as furnishing in their history an 
epitome and type of the life of faith. The Passover 
is significant, and it teaches important lessons. Why 
the unleavened bread; and why must the people 
celebrate the feast in a standing posture? We read, 
" The Egyptians were urgent upon the people, that 
they might send them out of the land in haste. . . . 
And the people took their dough before it was 
leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in 
their clothes upon their shoulders. . . . And they 
baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they 
brought forth out of Egypt, for it was not leavened ; 
because they were thrust out of Egypt and could not 
tarry, neither had they prepared for themselves any 
victual." Our attitude is or ought to be a pilgrim, 
fleeing, hastening one. We are on a march ; we have 
an end to reach, ills to escape, good to secure, much 
to do. If anybody should be in haste, it is the Chris- 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 



347 



tian. He should bear in mind that his business is the 
King's business, and " the King's business requires 
haste." We know the preference that is given to 
official despatches, and how the Government courier 
always has the right of way. In olden times, before 
the days of telegraphs and steam, the darting steed 
and the winding horn were the symbols of important 
intelligence, and the signal to clear the road and help 
the tidings on. No one scene of our civil war stands 
out with greater prominence, or makes a finer picture, 
than that which is spoken of as Sheridan's Ride. The 
king's business required haste. The battle had gone 
against us, and now, starting twenty miles away, the 
gallant commander with his swift charger arrived in 
time to turn the scale and save the fortunes of the 
day. The picture as painted by Buchanan Read is a 
study. At the left in the distance are the contending 
forces. Here is the flying animal, every muscle 
* strained, the nostrils distended, the eye speaking as 
if human, and the intrepid general looking as if the 
fate of worlds were hanging on the opportunities of 
that moment. That picture, dissociated from places 
and names, might well represent the Christian. The 
mighty earnestness, the furious speed, indicate what 
should be the spirit and purpose of him who claims 
to be a soldier in the army of the Lord. Alas, for 
the laggard Christians ! How many are like couriers 
that loiter at the taverns by the way and forget the 
King's business ! How many are like cowards and 
deserters that skulk and flee rather than throw them- 
selves into the deadly breach ! Let us take in the 
whole truth, that what we do in the service of God we 



348 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



must do quickly, and with our might ! We must not 
sleep and drone ; we must be all eye, all hand and 
heart, quick to move and do ! 

In Christian enterprises there should be this lively 
and prompt action. See how the Tabernacle was 
built. Did the people say, " Let us see how little we 
can give, and how much we can get out of others"? 
Did they say, " We have but just escaped as slaves 
from Egypt; we are in the wilderness, and have no 
homes ; we do not own a foot of ground, and we have 
nothing but what we are carrying with us ; then, where 
is the need of this Tabernacle, and why need it be so 
costly"? You know how they brought, — the men 
giving their costliest treasures, and the women taking 
the rings from their fingers and the jewels from their 
ears, or spinning with their hands, till it was necessary 
to issue a proclamation restraining the people from 
bringing. So when the Temple was built, we hear 
nothing of any complaint of extravagance or taxation. " 
The people were willing that the public exchequer 
should be drained, if need be, and gave largely and 
liberally of their own gifts. When David made the 
appeal, "Who then is willing to consecrate his ser- 
vice this day unto the Lord? " the response was hearty. 
" Then the chief of the fathers and princes of the tribes 
of Israel, and the captains of thousands and of hun- 
dreds, with the rulers of the king's work, offered will- 
ingly." The quantities that were given of gold, silver, 
brass, iron, and precious stones are mentioned. " Then 
the people rejoiced, for that they offered willingly, 
because with perfect heart they offered willingly to 
the Lord." Hundreds of years after, when the Temple 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 



349 



was repaired and rededicated in the days of Hezekiah, 
we see this same spontaneity of gifts, accompanied by 
a like enthusiasm and joy. " Hezekiah rejoiced, and 
all the people, that God had prepared the people : for 
the thing was done suddenly." That is it; that is 
the way to do anything, — do it suddenly; do it 
quickly; do it when the heart is full; do it when 
the moment is ripe. Enterprise implies promptness, 
celerity, action; and Christian enterprise implies the 
same. How was it when Nehemiah, sorrowing over 
the burned and devastated city of Jerusalem, under- 
took to restore its gates and palaces? Night after 
night with a few men he made a careful examination 
of the ruins, and then appealed to the people, who 
were quick to respond; and the work of restoration 
went forward. A common enthusiasm fired all. Each 
did his own part, wrought over against his own house, 
and none put off his clothes to rest at night. On 
account of enemies it was even necessary to work with 
a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. It 
was also a time of famine and high prices. There 
were those who were compelled to mortgage their 
lands and houses to pay taxes. Still the work went 
on ; it was another instance of doing a thing suddenly; 
the enthusiasm was high; "the people had a mind to 
work ; " and in fifty-two days the wall was finished. 

It is this despatch, promptness, enthusiasm, that 
should characterize all our movements in building up 
Christ's kingdom. No matter what the scheme may 
be, — a church to build, a charity to support, a debt to 
pay, — it should be done with a right good purpose 
and a cheery, sunny heart. In common duties, too, 



35o 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



there must be quickness of action. The King's busi- 
ness requires haste. We must not lag and be reluc- 
tant, and move slow. The most earnest life on record 
is that of the Saviour. In His childhood He said, 
" Wist ye not that I must be about My Father's busi- 
ness?" and His after life was a perpetual illustration 
of the saying, " The zeal of Thine house hath eaten 
Me up." When He hungered, He said He had meat 
to eat that the world knew not of; again He said, " I 
have a baptism to be baptized with; and how am 
I straitened till it be accomplished." Steadfastly did 
He set his face to go to Jerusalem ; and when He 
broke bread for the last time with His disciples, He 
said, " With desire I have desired to eat this Passover." 
And we claim to follow in His steps ! His steps led 
to a cross ; ours lead to a crown ! Yet He sought the 
cross less reluctantly than we seek the crown ! 

Next to the Saviour, Ave have the apostle Paul. He 
was an embodiment of singleness of purpose. Hear his 
grand utterances : " I have suffered the loss of all things, 
and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ." 
" This one thing I do, forgetting those things which 
are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which 
are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of 
the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." " Know ye 
not, that they which run in a race, run all, but one 
receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain. 
And every man that striveth for the mastery is tem- 
perate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a cor- 
ruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore 
so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that 
beateth the air. But I keep under my body and bring 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 



35* 



it into subjection : lest that by any means when I have 
preached to others, I myself should be a castaway." 

My friends, in the presence of such earnestness we 
ought to tremble at our own short-comings. Can it 
be that we are sleeping ; and shall nothing awake us 
but the midnight cry, " Behold, the Bridegroom 
cometh " ? Lo ! there is a voice now, " Woe to them 
that are at ease in Zion ! " " Curse ye Meroz, curse 
ye bitterly the inhabitants thereof; because they 
came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the 
Lord against the mighty ! " "I will also stretch out 
My hand upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants 
of Jerusalem; and I will cut off . . . them that are 
turned back from the Lord ; and those that have not 
sought the Lord, nor inquired for Him, . . . And it 
shall come to pass, at that time, that I will search 
Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are 
settled on their lees." 

My friends, religion is something, or it is nothing. 
We ought either to live it out or give it up. The 
Great Head of the Church despises the lukewarm. 
We ought to be mightily in earnest. Oh, what oppor- 
tunities ! How would the angels fly to take our 
place ! See, the gospel feast is spread and the Mas- 
ter says, " Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of 
the city and bring in hither the poor and the maimed 
and the halt and the blind." " Go out into the high- 
ways and hedges and compel them to come in, that 
My house may be filled." Are you doing this? Are 
you seeking to bring friends and neighbors and stran- 
gers to believe in Christ? Here are the young around 
you. The charge is, " Run, speak to this young 



352 LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 

man." Speak to him; not simply observe him, or 
pray for him, or wish that he were a Christian. Let 
warm, loving words fall into his heart; show by your 
speech that you desire his salvation. Speak to him, 
not report his case to others, speak about him, or 
have something to say of him when he is out of sight. 
Carry your words into his immediate presence ; show 
an interest, and try to influence him personally to 
come to the house of God and to love the Saviour. 
He is a young man, in the most interesting and hope- 
ful period of life ; saved now, it is great gain. Run ; 
for danger and duty, opportunity and interest, demand 
haste. " The Spirit and the bride say, Come ; and let 
him that heareth say, Come." None are exempt ; all 
must go forth with the gospel invitation. Be it your 
aim, by word, effort, and life to win souls to Christ. 
Say, " Come thou with us and we will do thee 
good ; for the Lord hath spoken good concerning 
Israel." 

Some of you are parents or teachers. What you do 
for your children must be done quickly. The crisis 
of life is in childhood ; it is said the bent of character 
is given in the first seven years. There are certain 
processes of art that require sudden touches and 
prompt action, or the whole work is spoiled ; and 
happy is he who has the sleight-of-hand to touch or 
strike at the requisite moment. Such a temperature 
must be reached, or such a combination of circum- 
stances effected, and then the mould is given, the die 
struck, or the object formed. A child's mind is like 
a molten mass ; the impression must be made when 
the material is soft. If you wait till it is hard you will 



THE KINCS BUSINESS. 



353 



make no image. Moral electrotyping is the highest 
art. Hence, I say to those who have the care of the 
young, " This is your opportunity." It may seem to 
the mother that she is to have her child for a long 
time ; but if death does not take him, the circling 
years will lift him to man's estate sooner than she 
wishes, and make her heart ache with memories of days 
that are gone. Some one says: " Parents weary with 
the noise and prattle of their children. They tire of the 
confusion and clatter with which they fill the house. 
Never mind ; your house will be still enough by and 
by. In a little while those little feet will be resting 
in the grave, or they will be tracking their own weary 
pilgrimage far from home. You had better make the 
most of your children while you have them. You had 
better sweeten their early days with memories that 
shall be pleasant for you and for them." I think 
parents and teachers too often forget that they are 
forming pictures of themselves on the hearts of the 
children. By and by our scholars or children will 
weigh and estimate us, and speak of us as we have 
made ourselves to them. Each will say, " My teacher 
was cross and exacting, peevish and fretful ; " or, " He 
was easy and patient, pleasant and kind." " My 
father was cold in his family ; we trembled when he 
came home; we hardly dared raise our voice when 
he was around." Or, " He was full of love, his pres- 
ence brought sunshine, he indulged us to a fault, he 
was ever devising ways to please us, we all fairly wor- 
shipped him, he was the light of our home." Or it is 
the mother who is in some such way recalled. If we 
could be thoughtful of the changes of time, our treat- 

23 



354 



LIVING FOR THE MASTER. 



ment of children would often be different from what 
it is. Let parents and teachers train their children 
aright, and then will they be remembered and spoken 
of with reverence and love. 

A word now to those who are neglecting the oppor- 
tunities of salvation. You remember the parable: 
" The kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in 
a field; the which when a man hath found he hideth, 
and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath 
and buyeth that field." Men are not slow when there 
is earthly good to be secured ; they are not slow when 
there is great evil to be shunned. This matter of sal- 
vation demands the utmost haste. To Lot, who still 
lingered in the doomed city, the angels came, and lay- 
ing hold upon his hand and the hand of his wife and 
children, said, " Escape for thy life ; look not behind 
thee, neither stay thou in all the plain ; escape to the 
mountain lest thou be consumed." This is the cry 
to you, " Escape, escape ! " Good to be secured 
demands immediate action; danger to be shunned 
forbids delay. 

Dear friends, let us all remember that the time is 
short. Not only is the King's business urgent, but we 
have but little time to do it in. A grand reason for 
haste is that our stay here is so short The friend 
that calls, says, " I cannot sit down, I have so much 
to do." That is the case with us, — we have no time 
to tarry ; we have great duties to perform, and the day 
is shortening. If you were going to take the cars, and 
the train-time were near, you would have no words 
to waste or time to spend. There is another convey- 
ance coming for you ; the time is appointed and the 



THE KING'S BUSINESS. 



355 



hour is near. Bestir yourselves, then, and be ready 
to go away. What you do, or say, or give, do 
now, for the opportunity will soon be gone. It is 
even late with some to be seeking an interest in the 
Saviour. Lord, wake men up from the sleep of sin, 
and make them mightily in earnest in doing the 
King's business ! 



University Press : John Wilson and Son, Cambridge. 



